The Army with a State
by thegermankaiserreich
Summary: The Shift of 1816 brought The Army with a State into the world of Remnant. It is the year 1898, and the Prussian Crown Prince is attending Beacon Academy. Very minor crossover with many universes. OC/Ruby, Jaune/Pyrrha
1. Prologue

The Shift is a very dramatic and continual event that began in the Prussian Julian calendar year, 1816, and, as of the year 1898, it has yet to stop its continuous changes to our world of Remnant. Although none so dramatic and impactful as when it first began on January 11th, 1816. An entire landmass, that has since been named Europa in memory of its original home, was not taken, but copied and placed in the cold southern sea in between the continents of Sanus and Anima.

The people that inhabited this new land were all asleep at the time of The Shift, and few noticed when it happened, and the ones that were awake at the time reported that they didn't notice any difference in the world until they looked outside and saw half of a shattered moon in the night sky. The next morning, many still hadn't known about The Shift, but a week later, the population was in an uproar and many feared it was Judgement Day.

The popular King of Prussia, Frederick William von Hohenzollern the third, also known as The Great Unifier, realized that something drastic needed to be done. The other nations that had accompanied Prussia, the Kingdoms of Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Luxembourg, and Oldenburg had all fallen into chaos along with territories of nations that had followed, but the rest of the nation hadn't, namely Elsass-Lothringen and Schleswig-Holstein. Due to the anarchy of these nations and territories, the King of Prussia ordered the superb Prussian military to temporarily occupy the kingdoms and territories in order to restore order until the whole story had been found out, and order restored.

The first natives of Remnant to find out about the new arrivals were Faunus fishermen from Sanus that stumbled upon elements of the Prussian Navy that were sent to investigate the brand new coasts of Elsass-Lothringen, Bavaria and Posen. The first conversation between these two groups happened on board the SMS Stettin, one of the three Great Frigates of the Brandenburg Klasse in the Prussian Navy at the time. The surprise, curiosity, and kindness of the Prussian sailors towards the Faunus is well documented, although in recent years this is debated by members of the White Fang.

Due to this encounter, the people of Europa were relieved to find that they were not alone, and very eager to begin trade with the kingdoms of Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and Mantle in order to stop the massive food shortage that was beginning to occur on Europa. Of course, the Kingdom of Vale, its people, and their King were more than willing to supply much food to the Prussians and the territories they were occupying. Mistral was not as eager, but an outcry from its people forced the nobility to allow trade, feeding the people that needed it. Vacuo had not the resources nor the merchant fleet to help, and so it didn't. Mantle was very cautious of the new arrivals, but a trade agreement was quickly established, however, it would take months before the promised goods would make the long journey from Solitas in the north to Europa in the South. The small population of Menagerie was very happy to send its large excess food supply to the hungry people of Europa after hearing how accepting they were of Faunus, and what could have been the death of almost 6 million was averted.

However, this was just the end of one of Prussia's brand new problems, due to the new location of Europa, far south of the equator, the already cold Prussian winter became nigh unbearable, once again the small population of Menagerie came to the rescue, sending excess winter supplies from their frigid winters, a stark contrast to their scalding summers and springs.

When the small Prussian Navy first saw water based Grimm shortly after the first trade goods from Mantle arrived, they did not know the danger of the creatures, and the crew of the SMS Ruhe, a 32 gun Frigate of the Hannover Klasse, were nearly capsized if not for the nearby SMS Retter, a 72 gun Frigate of the Baden Klasse, quickly firing a devastating broadside that killed the Kraken that attacked the Ruhe and severely damaged the ship it intended to save, said ship was quickly towed back to port at Wilhelmshaven for repairs and to report the sea monster.

The King of Prussia, of course, asked what this creature was, and was shocked and worried to find that the horrible creatures were on land as well as sea, and was further informed that around seventy-five percent of Remnants landmass was populated with them. He quickly inquired if there were any strategies for defending against the creatures of Grimm. This marked the origin of the Jägertruppe Programme, the program itself would not begin for some years, due to the complete and utter lack of Grimm on Europa, however, special ships were quickly designed, tested and put into service in the Prussian Navy called Flottenwächters for combatting the Grimm of the sea and protecting the vital, but relatively unarmed, merchant fleet.

But elsewhere in the world, century-old tensions between the four original kingdoms were beginning to boil over, the alliance between Mantle and Mistral, and their agreement to do away with personal rights and individuality had created a large rift between the aforementioned kingdoms and the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo. The King of Prussia was appalled by Mistrals use of Faunus slaves and cut off trade with the kingdom, leaving the Prussian government and himself to rapidly fill the impending lack of food with land reform and government founded farms given to local land barons.

However, before any of these reforms or the construction of the farms were finished, a fight broke out between Mistralian and Valean settlers on the eastern part of Sanus, sparking a powder keg that would send the entire world into war.

The Kingdom of Mantle came to its allies aid and declared war upon the Kingdom of Vale just days later, and for the first two years, Vale stood alone against a third of the world. Prussian military elements were sent to Vale to study the arts of warfare performed there, and Mantle cut off its trade to Prussia, creating a rift between the two countries and forcing the government to speed up its construction of the farms meant to replace trade.

Vacuo soon rose against the Mantlese and Mistralians that occupied it and allied itself with Vale, declaring war on Mantle and Mistral.

At this time in Prussia, many new parents were shocked to find that their newborn children were Faunus, not only that but they all had two to three animal traits compared to the standard one. Some of the people of Menagerie were asked to help with these drastic changes, and a book titled Faunus, and how to care for them was published in Prussia within a few months of this amazing change.

This distraction was quickly snuffed out by Mantle, however, when they began raiding and confiscating the crucial trade between Prussia and its closest friend, the Kingdom of Vale. The King of Prussia heavily protested this new development saying that the Prussian people would fight them if it meant preventing the people from starving, Mantle and its King cared little about what they saw as an empty threat and continued. This forced the Kingdom of Prussia to bear arms against its new neighbors and just two and a half short years after they arrived in this strange new world, in the year 1818, they declared war against one of them.

An alliance between Prussia and Vale was finalized within the week and the Prussian and Valean navies went about transporting part of Prussia's colossal military to Sanus. This was also the first time Prussians would hear of aura, which was swiftly incorporated into both the Prussian Army and Navy. The twenty-one-year-old prince Wilhelm Friedrich Louis, the King's second son and future Kaiser, went to war with his superior and Prussian hero, Generalfeldmarchall Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, who participated and won a series of wars from the Old World call the Napoleonic Wars, which had ended a very short time before The Shift.

Blücher, who was seventy-five, was known as being the most enthusiastic and gleeful commanders of the alliance, had an amazing ability to rally his men and a tendency to lead devastating charges of Prussian cavalry against Mantlese and Mistralians. This attitude was only furthered when his aura was unlocked by the King of Vale, and it shocked many when the aging commander seemed to regain some of the health of his youth. Causing many elders in Prussia to do the same. Civilians unlocking their aura has become a problem in recent years, and the Prussian Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm the second has had to forbid it for anyone under sixty-five. Blücher would die one year after the end of the war at age eighty-six.

It was also discovered that the auras of Prussian born horses could be unlocked, this was also regulation for the Prussian Army, whose cavalry became infamous for causing even the most hardened of soldiers to break. Prussian lancers and hussars dominated every battle the enemy was unlucky enough to be a part of, particularly the Bosniaks and the Deaths head hussars.

The Prussian people, understandably tired of the Napoleonic wars, which had lasted for a decade, were reluctant to support another war, but they liked their King, and many were desperate not to be hungry again.

Throughout the war, both the Prussians and the Valeans learned much about each other and their ways of life. It was discovered that Prussian musket rounds made by the Krupp AG did much more damage to aura than dust usually did. This led to the Prussian King signing a contract that gave the Krupp AG a monopoly over Prussian steel if they would not sell that mixture of steel to foreign kingdoms or those that might do so. It was also discovered, that a different mixture of steel made by Krupp that had dust incorporated into it was found to be much more efficient at penetrating Grimm bone armor than traditional dust, this mixture was allowed to be sold to anyone and everyone for obvious reasons.

The war ended in 1828 after a particularly devastating final victory won by the Prussians and Valeans, known as Endsieg in Prussia, against the Mantlese during the Valean led Vacuon campaign. During the negotiations on the island of Vytal, Prussia vehemently refused to abolish its monarchy, the Frederick William the third himself saying to the Warrior King of Vale, "You sir, have my utmost respect for the foes you have beaten and the causes that you stand up for. But I will die before our monarchy is abolished because of the reasons you have presented before us. Especially if it is to be replaced by a self-serving council." This is in reference to the reasons the King of Vale stated as enough cause to do away with them and install councils in their place. The reason is famously controversial, stating that the main cause for the war was a feud between the monarchs when many say it was due to the Mistralians using slave labor and the Mantlese banning individualism. The confusing Mistralian Augustine calender was also replaced with the simple Prussian Julian Calendar. The different dates sometimes caused battles to be lost due to late reinforcements. The Kingdom of Atlas, having replaced the now defunct Kingdom of Mantle due to a military coup, gifted Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo the Cross Continental Transit System. The Prussians famously refused an offer to install one in their capital city of Berlin, citing that such a drastic change in such a short time would not be beneficial to the people.

The war gave Prussia all the reason it needed to annex all of the non-Prussian territories on Europa and proclaim the Prussian Empire. Proclaiming himself, Kaiser William the first. This was shortly after the Warrior King of Vale abdicated, and was never heard from again. The war also drastically accelerated weapons development in all kingdoms, producing airplanes from Prussia, although none were effective, early Bullheads from Vale, radios from Mantle, chemical weapons from Mistral, and primitive magazine fed firearms from Vacuo.

Sixty years later, when the Faunus Rights Revolution began, Prussia refused any part of it, saying that believing that Faunus and Humans were different species was a fallacy, as both groups could produce children with the other. Little attention was paid to these sayings.

Since the war, Atlas and Prussia have butted heads over various things, mostly the Atlesian treatment of Faunus, but also over who had the bigger and better military.

This year, 1898, is the year that several members of Prussian royalty, namely Richard Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, Crown Prince of the Prussian Empire, his fiance Rubin Rose von Habsburg, a member of a dynasty lost to the Old World, and Johann von Arc of Elsass-Lothringen will be attending Beacon Academy in Vale, while Drache Academy in Berlin is under construction. Although this is not public knowledge, and they will be going under assumed names. Rubin, now Ruby is excited to see her cousin Yang Xiao Long and her aunt Raven, and the Crown Prince, going by the alias Richard Raeder, is thrilled to experience the fight against the Grimm firsthand.

* * *

 **So this is a concept that's been in my head for about a year, and I thought I'd finally write it down starting with this prologue giving some vital backstory for the things to come.**

 **This my first serious story, so please review and tell me what you think, or what grammatical errors there might be.**

 **The first chapter should be around by the 14th, maybe before depending on motivation and reviews.**

 **10/8/18: Edits made adding minor details and fixing grammatical errors.**


	2. Chapter One

**Explanations for Menagerie and Prussian muskets at the end.**

* * *

It was August 1st, 1898, and the sixteen-year-old Crown Prince Richard Wilhelm von Hohenzollern of the Prussian Empire was on board his personal ship, the _König Klasse_ battleship _SMS Kronprinz,_ with his fianceé Rubin Rose von Habsburg, a Prussian Faunus with three traits of a wolf, they were engaged due to an arranged marriage, but were happy in their newborn relationship. His best friend Johann von Arc was also accompanying them for the same purpose they were, his name had been changed to Jaune Arc. Richard had taken the last name of a brilliant navy captain he had met briefly, he was now Richard Raeder, and Rubin had simply translated her first name and done away with the von Habsburg, becoming Ruby Rose in order to obtain obscurity.

Richard had dirty blonde hair combed to his right, he had shining light blue eyes, and he wore the uniform of a _Großadmiral._ He had inherited his fathers' love of uniforms and the military. He was well built, slightly bulkier than a swimmer and was six feet two inches tall, just one inch taller than his friend Jaune. All in all, he was a very attractive young man worthy of the title _Kronprinz des Preussischen Reiches_.

Her parents, Summer Rose von Habsburg and Qrow Branwen von Habsburg, had close ties to the headmaster of Beacon Academy and had gotten the trio accepted into the school easily. So they were on their way there on board one of the fiercest battleships made by the expert shipbuilders at Wilhelmshaven, with a small escort of six Flottenwächters to the island of Patch, before heading to the city of Vale.

They would be staying at small castle within Forever Fall that had been built by the King of Vale as a gift to the Prussian royal family for their participation in the Great War, known as Herbst Castle.

All of them were very excited of course.

Ruby Rose, fianceé to the Crown Prince of the Prussian Empire, was latched onto her eventual husband, arms around him and legs wrapped around his waist. She giggled excitedly into his chest as he rubbed her wolf ears with one hand, and had his other arm underneath her tail, supporting her.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" She squealed into his chest.

"We get to go to Beacon and kill Grimm!"

"I know Ruby,"

"And my cousin Yang is going too!"

"I know Ruby,"

Ruby sighed happily as she was calmed by his ministrations to her canine ears.

"I love you,"

The Crown Prince smiled widely,

"I know Ruby," He gently kissed her forehead.

Johann, now Jaune, couldn't help but smile at the two.

"You two are adorable you know?"

The couple chuckled and giggled respectively,

"We know,"

Jaune sighed sadly, and set his hand on the family sword on his hip."I wish I had something like you two," He muttered.

"Don't worry Johann. There is no possible way that you won't find someone at Beacon."

Richard replied.

Ruby looked up, "Yeah! You'll find someone you like there! Maybe even two!"

Jaune smiled at his closest friends. "Thank you guys, and remember it's Jaune now that we're going to Vale."

"Ah yes, the assumed names we have adopted," Richard scowled.

He was very proud of his heritage and family name and was reluctant to adopt another one, even if it meant not having to worry about anyone attempting to harm him due to his name.

"Richie?" Ruby looked up from his chest to ask something.

"Yes, Rubes?"

"Can we please go up to the top deck? I want to get some fresh air,"

"Very well, Jaune you want to come along?"

Jaune shook his head, "No thank you, I think I'm going to take a nap before we arrive," He began to head to the luxurious guest quarters.

Richard walked out of the common room two decks below and called the elevator. There was a small ding as it arrived and the metal and the metal gate was opened by a young bellhop with mouse ears.

The bellhop saluted, "Which deck would you like to go to _Eure Hoheit_?"

Richard briefly took his hand off of Ruby's ears, earning him a sad whine, and saluted the bellhop back.

"Top deck please."

" _Jawohl, Eure Hoheit."_

" _Danke schön._ "

So, they went to the wooden top deck, and when they got there Ruby got off of him and put her hands on the railing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. She sighed happily when Richard came up behind her, planted his chin between her ears and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Smoke belched out of the two smokestacks of the grand steel battleship as it cruised through the water at a smooth twenty knots towards the island of Patch before it was to head to the city of Vale and drop off its invaluable passengers to head to Herbst Castle. The large formidable ship was surrounded by six steel _Flottenwächters_ of the _Memel Klasse,_ each one with a smokestack pumping out black smoke of its own and armed specifically to combat seafaring Grimm. Five other ships of varying classes and armories were part of the escort as well.

It had been about ten years after the end of the Faunus War, when biologists in Atlas created a hybrid between Prussian tobacco and Vacuon tobacco they discovered that cigarettes and cigars made from this hybrid tobacco, named Ersatztabak, were ninety-three percent less addictive and completely harmless compared to all other types of tobacco, however, Ersatztabak failed to gain much popularity due to the significantly smaller effect of smoking this hybrid. Though it did gain popularity with teens in all of the five kingdoms.

While Ruby did not like Ersatztabak, Richard did and smoked it occasionally, his aura preventing what small amount of damage it could do. So, he took a large cigar out of his inner jacket pocket, put it in his mouth and lit it with a silver-plated flip lighter with a small Iron Cross on it. The smoke that puffed out of his mouth was quickly carried away by the strong breeze that they were subject to.

' _I wonder what Beacon is like,'_ He thought. He had seen pictures of it of course. All of which were very grand photos and paintings depicting the massive castle-like majesty of Beacon, and he was very reluctant to admit that it was greater than even Hohenzollern Castle. Perhaps the inside was of similar architecture, after all, both were built around the same time. But the inside was unlikely to be as beautiful as the Stadtschloss, the Prussian Royal Palace and his home. Although he was going to begin living in the Kronprinzenpalais down the street from the Stadtschloss after he turned eighteen and returned from Beacon.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ruby pointing ahead of them, to the port side of the ship.

"Richie look!"

He looked up and saw the jagged fin of a shark-like Grimm called an Akheilos.

" _Scheisse. Akheilos Grimmattacke!"_ He quickly yelled to a nearby crewman, who repeated the statement to others.

The _Flottenwächters_ were quickly radioed and moved to engage the monster, the giant shark attempted to sink its sharp jagged teeth into the steel of one of the ships, but was shot with a large harpoon. The beast quickly dived underneath the water and the ship was forced to detach the harpoon from it.

The massive shark launched out of the water, attempting to land on top of an escorting _Leichter Kreuzer_ in an effort to capsize it, but another harpoon knocked it off course and it landed next to the ship it intended to sink, who fired all of its guns at the demon, blowing much of its unprotected flesh off of it. The beast was dead within three minutes of engagement.

The Grimm looked formidable, but it had little bone armor and was easy to kill in a few good shots, its colossal cousin the Megalodon, however, was much more dangerous and intelligent, having much more armor and providing much more of a threat.

"That could have ended very badly,"

"Yup, but it didn't!"

Richard smiled, "No, it didn't,"

He wrapped his arms around Ruby and pressed his lips against hers. She hummed happily into it.

" _Eure Hoheit,_ we are approaching the island of Patch." An officer had interrupted them. He broke off the simple kiss, "Very well, prepare Kreigsbrand for the trip."

" _Jawohl_." the officer saluted before walking briskly away. Kreigsbrand was his personal mount, a magnificent, large horse that was dark red with a mane and a tail that turned from black to light gray and had amber eyes that appeared to glow.

When he turned back to Ruby, she had an excited look on her face.

"Ooo! Can we go get some double chocolate chunk cookies at Opal's Bakery in town before we go to Yang's?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me." was the reply.

Ruby latched onto him again.

"Yay!"

She tilted her head up to peck his lips but was once again interrupted, although this time it was the loud horn of the ship announcing its presence to the port city of Patch, which was now in view.

" _Matrose!_ Tell Johann that we will be arriving within the half hour." Richard ordered a nearby officer.

" _Jawohl, Eure Hoheit._ "

He turned to Ruby, "Well, let's get ready to leave,"

As they did so, Jaune joined them, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans.

Richard raised his eyebrows as he saw him, and Ruby giggled.

"Is that a... cartoon rabbit on your chest?" Jaune gave them a glare.

"Hey! I'll have you know that this is very comfortable." He turned his nose up at them in faux poshness. His friends laughed.

"Sure it is Jaune," Ruby smirked.

"It is!" Jaune defended.

Richard chuckled"Well, I for one am not going to wear clothes like that, on Patch at least."

The other two looked at his _Großadmiral_ uniform with blank looks.

"Okay, fine! I'll wear something a little more modest." He grumbled.

"But I am going to wear this while on Patch," he stated firmly.

Ruby sighed, "Alright, not many people outside the country know the faces of Prussian royalty anyway."

"But the uniform _is_ flashy," Jaune stated.

Richard nodded, "It's supposed to be noticeable, but as long as we don't do anything suspicious and keep our assumed names, we should be fine."

The other two sighed but nodded as both the Kaiser and his son were difficult to sway, but he was right, you would have to know what the specific Prussian _Großadmiral_ uniform looked like in order to tell he was anything other than some naval officer on leave from Atlas or Vale.

Finally, Ruby got tired of talking about clothes, "Can we go now, guys? I want my cookies and I wanna see Yang!" she pouted adorably, her ears flattening on top of her head and her tail wagging aggravatedly. Both of her companions blinked and looked over the side of the ship to find that it was anchored in the port already.

Jaune was the first to speak, "Ah, well, let's get down there then."

* * *

 **Sorry for the abrupt end, I feel like so inadequate for doing that, but every time I reread this it doesn't seem quite right and I'm not sure how to fix it.**

 **But anyway, there was a review talking about how Prussian line infantry of the Napoleonic era would not do well against people with aura, along with a review on a similar subject regarding how gunpowder was not as powerful when a shot from a dust round could destroy a huge boulder.**

 **Well, regarding the gunpowder, rifles do not** _ **fire**_ **gunpowder, as in, gunpowder does not fly out of the barrel towards the enemy, however, bullets do, and I stated earlier that a certain mix of steel from Prussia being made into musket balls could do more damage to** _ **aura**_ **than the average dust round. Dust rounds are obviously superior if you need their individual elemental abilities.**

 **Regarding the line infantry, remember in the show when they talked about the Faunus War and all of the weapons stuck in the ground were swords and spears? Well, the Great War happened sixty years before that, and assuming that the standard way of attacking an enemy with swords and spears was charging towards them (as was the real-life strategy), then one or two volleys from organized line infantry would be like an absolutely** _ **colossal**_ **shotgun armed with bullets that do a little more damage to aura than dust ripping into a group of charging soldiers armed with fucking** _ **swords**_ **, especially if it was at close range. Then they would engage with bayonets and any possible swords or sidearms. There is a reason that America won the Indian wars you know, technological advantage. Besides, I placed heavy emphasis on cavalry for a reason.**

 **Somebody also said that Menagerie didn't exist before the Great War, well I assume the reason that the Faunus were given the island is that there was already an amount of Faunus there already, and that pushing more Faunus to live there wouldn't be any skin off of the backs of humans. Menagerie is a pretty big island after all, one that could be good for colonizing. I also stated several times that the population of Menagerie was small, after the Great War it would probably swell quite a bit with all the Faunus to migrate there.**

 **More on The Shift, the technological difference between Prussia and the other kingdoms, and a special project that started in Prussia due to The Shift.**

 **Anyway, please review, it gives me the motivation to write for those that want it and helps me fix flaws or explain things that apparently weren't clear.**

 **Please tell me if you think the chapter seems weird for you as well, and how I might fix it if it does.**

 **So please,** _ **please**_ **, review.**

 **Thank you, and God bless. - Bob Ross**

 **Next chapter: 10/21/18 (hopefully)**


	3. Chapter Two

Ruby happily munched on the cookies that Richie bought for her as they walked out of the bakery.

"Enjoy the cookies you two!" a young woman with light blue eyes and hair callout out after them.

Richie responded, "Thank you, Miss Opal! Have a nice day!"

Richard was dressed in the uniform of a Prussian Cuirassier. The light metal breastplate giving him the appearance of a huntsman-in-training. Ruby, of course, was wearing her red cloak, a black and red corset, and a black and red combat skirt.

The couple began walking toward where Kriegsbrand was hitched down the street. The port of Denim was less of a town and more of a district in the adjacent town of Patch, although Denim was more rustic than the busy port of Patch.

"Oh, I can't wait to see Yang's face when she sees us!" Ruby squealed excitedly.

Richie chuckled, "I'm sure that she'll be surprised when we walk up to the door and she thinks it's pizza or something." Ruby giggled at his statement.

They got to Kriegsbrand before they knew it and Richie swiftly mounted the heavily battle-scarred red horse. Ruby reached up and Richie lifted her up to sit behind him.

At that moment Jaune rode up on his own horse, a large white beast with red eyes named Krankheit.

"Are you guys ready to head over to Yang's?" he asked.

"That sounds good to us," Richie replied.

"How long do you think it will take to get there?" Ruby asked curiously.

Richard checked his watch, "Well, it's 2:30 now, we should be there by 3:00."

"Okay," and with that, Ruby snuggled into his back, sighing happily as she deeply inhaled his scent.

Jaune spoke up, "Alright, let's hit the road. Care for a race?"

Ruby's eyes lit up in excitement, "Oh, yes! That's a great idea!"

She hopped off Kriegsbrand and gave a shrill whistle with her fingers in her mouth. Seconds later, a grey horse with red eyes and a black tail and mane galloped up to them.

"Hey, Eroberung!" The little red reaper cooed as she walked up to her steed. "How are you boy?" She patted the horse's neck as she hopped on.

Richard spoke up, "Okay guys, line up!" His fiancee and friend trotted up next to him.

"Get set!" They all readied themselves.

"Go!"

And they were off. Ruby had an early lead, galloping ahead of her companions quickly.

But this lead quickly disappeared as Jaune slowly pulled ahead of her.

"Haha, Ruby! You gotta keep that burst of speed up you know!" He yelled as he passed her.

"No! You can't beat me!" Ruby whined as the Xiao Long household came into view.

Then, quite suddenly, there was the sound of a roaring flame, and Richard, aboard Kriegsbrand whose mane and tail had ignited in fire, sped past both of them leaving behind smoldering hoofprints.

"Hah! I win!" The Crown Prince yelled at them cockily as they cantered to him.

"That's cheating Rich!" Jaune called out to him.

"I never stated any rules! I just said go!"

Suddenly, a woman with luscious black hair and blood red eyes burst out of the front door of the house they had approached.

"What's all the racket out her-5" She froze as she saw them. "Ruby? Richard?" A wide smile appeared on her face and she quickly dashed back indoors.

"Ah, Scheisse."

Bits of splintered wood flew all over the grass and porch as a large yellow blur rocketed out of what was once the front door.

"RRRUUUBBBYYY!"

The adorable red reaper was tackled off of Eroberung by her cousin Yang Xiao Long.

"Hi... Yang...Please stop..." Ruby struggled to get out of the bear hug that her cousin had wrapped her in.

"I missed you so much, Rubes! What are you guys doing here?! I thought I wouldn't see you guys until Beacon starts?"

"Well, His Highness here thought it would be nice to stay at Herbst while waiting for initiation," Jaune said pointing his thumb at Richard.

"Oh Hell yeah! I'll go pack!" and with that, the Yellow vanished back into her house. She popped back out with a few suitcases seconds later.

"...Well, that was quick," was the highly intelligent response to come from the Prince's mouth.

"Yup!" Yang said popping the 'p'.

 **One hour later...**

Once again on board the _Kronprinz_ , the Royal passengers except Richard were chatting in the luxurious common room.

"Oh I'm so happy we'll be together in Beacon Rubes!" Yang said once again slowly squeezing the life out of her younger cousin.

"Yang, I think you should let Ruby go... her face is turning blue I think..."

"Oh, oops."

Ruby gasped and panted heavily as she was once again allowed to breath sweet, sweet air.

"Please stop doing that Yang, I nearly passed out there I think."

Yang sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Well, it's not my fault I'm happy to see my favorite cousin!"

Ruby sighed but gave her cousin a smile.

Suddenly, a voice came from down the hall, singing a song.

" _Ich bin ein Preuße, kennt ihr meine Farben?_

 _Die Fahne schwebt mir weiß und Schwarz vo_ \- Ah, hello guys, the Captain tells me that we'll be in Vale by 4:30. So don't get terribly comfortable."

Jaune sighed, "Damnit, I was gonna take another nap."

"Don't worry Jaune, you can take a nap when we get to _Herbst_ , unless you wanna _Yang_ around a little longer." Yang laughed. Everyone groaned in response.

"You guys have no taste in humor!"

As the others talked away, Richard sat down on a nearby sofa, wrapped up in his thoughts.

'I hope _Die Glocke Projekt_ is going nicely, God knows what could happen if any mistakes are made in its engineering.' He frowned, 'If Dr. Maxis and Dr. Richtofen can make it work, we could finally find out what's causing The Shift...' He was interrupted by his fiancee's lip suddenly pressing into his. His eyes widened, but he kissed back, enjoying the feeling of her soft lips on his.

"Get a room, guys! Jeez, it's not like you haven't seen each other in a long-ass time or something."

Ruby broke off the kiss, "You're just jealous that I have a hunk of a boyfriend and you don't Yang!" Ruby said back teasingly. Both Richard and Yang blushed, although for different reasons.

The sound of Jaune's snoring broke up whatever conversation they would have had.

"Why is he so tired? Jeez." Yang wondered aloud, her cheeks had lost most of their redness.

"Probably the motion sickness pills he took."

"Oh."

A Butler entered the room, "We will be arriving in Vale in ten minutes _Eure Hoheit_."

"Very well, get our mounts ready would you? Danke," The Butler bowed and left the room.

"Welp." Richard clapped his hands to wake Jaune up, "Let's get going."

* * *

 **Hello ladies and gents, sorry about the delay, but things happened where I'm staying, and we lost power for a week.**

 **Then I had to do a lot of chores outdoors in the freezing cold because my family and I are staying at our vacation home in northern Canada for the next couple weeks, then we're gonna head back to boring New Jersey. Luckily I thrive in the cold, so it's been enjoyable for me, but the internet is kinda iffy up here so even without the power outage I would've had trouble writing and uploading.**

 **My dad says that we're gonna upgrade our internet luckily, so that problem should be fixed a few days after we leave back to the good old US. But update times will not be weekly as I hoped, hopefully, I can keep it bi-weekly though.**

 **On to the** ** _Review Replies_** **!**

 ** _BetterTitles_** **: That would be funny, and while it won't happen in the story the Third Reich may very well appear.**

 ** _Guest #1_** **: You are right on those points for sure. But just because they have accents doesn't make them Royalty, if their disguised hold up that is.**

 ** _leblos1_** **: Thank you. Yang and her immediate family will keep their normal names because they live on Patch, instead of the Prussian Empire. (p.s. For German readers who are upset about the Empire being Prussian instead of German, don't worry, Wilhelm II intends to change that.)**

 _ **Guest #2**_ **: There is no way the Germanic nations of the 1800's would give up traditional names for the names of colors, after all, there are only so many colors and there are enough unique 'normal' names. I also explained in the Prologue that Prussian Faunus usually have two to three traits instead of one.**

 **Next chapter** ** _will_** **be longer, I intend to increase chapter length to at least three-thousand wor**


	4. The Great War

Yesterday, November 11th, 100 years ago in 1918, one of the worst man-made tragedies in western society ended.

World War One was the biggest mistake that could have ever been made in Europe.

It killed a generation, led to the rise of communism in the Russian Empire, ruined the German Empire's previously untarnished reputation, led to the rise of Fascism in several European countries, namely Germany and Italy, and led to the most costly war of all time.

If there is one thing I could change in all of human history, it would either be to prevent the war from occurring or prevent the Germans from losing.

Perhaps if they won, there wouldn't be a catalyst for the hatred and anger that led to World War Two.

Next chapter will come out tomorrow.


	5. Chapter Three

The Prussian's arrival in Vale had been kept rather hush-hush, so the group of royals arrived quietly and inconspicuously in the early evening. They stood on the docks just beside the massive battleship, which had gained some small attention.

"How long do you think it will take us to arrive?" Jaune asked, having never been to Vale, and by extension, Herbst Castle.

Yang responded, "It takes about a half an hour to get to the edge of Vale from here, and it'll take another fifteen minutes to get to the castle on horseback. So about forty-five minutes."

A car pulled up to them, a Mercedes-Benz 770, and the chauffeur saluted and waved them in.

" _Eure Hoheit_ , we are to drive through the upper-class district until we get to the edge of the city, then your mounts will be delivered to you." He spoke with a very thick Prussian accent, slightly more so than Jaune's, but much thicker than any of the other royals.

As they began to get into the luxury car, Richard spoke, "Initiation is in about two weeks, so we have time to do what anything we want in Vale and train as much as we can."

Yang smirked, "Anything?"

Ruby pouted and turned to her sister, "Just don't go clubbing just so you look cool, we all know you get tired of it in about twenty minutes."

Yang blushed at her secret being revealed, "I mean, I do enjoy it a little bit." She looked down at her lap, "I just get uncomfortable and bored after a while."

Ruby hugged her, "We know Yang, why else do you think none of us like it?"

Yang saw an opportunity, "Well I know what you like to do when you and Richie are alone," She winked at them. Both Ruby and Richie blushed and attempted to splutter out excuses and denials.

Jaune decided to come to their rescue, "Leave them alone Yang, we need to prepare themselves for the crowd that might be at the castle when we get there."

* * *

Ozpin was concerned, for the last few years he had felt some kind of energy resembling magic coming from the Herbst Castle, it wasn't, but it was close enough and powerful enough to make him very worried for the future.

He asked Summer and Qrow to let in Ruby early, not only was it good to start her training early, but her mind would also be more moldable for him. Best of all, where she went, her fiancee would be hot on her heels, and having the Crown Prince of the Prussian Empire following him would make things much easier, perhaps giving him near-direct control over the colossal Prussian military. Perhaps he could find out if Richard knew just what the hell was going on at his castle as well.

He felt Glynda Goodwitch's aura even before he heard the elevator ding to signal her arrival.

"Headmaster, the _Kronprinz_ has been spotted at the docks, do you want me to meet them at the castle?"

Ozpin looked up at her, "Indeed, tell the prince I wish to meet him and the ones accompanying him, the location may be of his choice but I would prefer my office," for recording purposes of course. Glynda nodded and got back into the elevator.

Ozpin sighed and rubbed his face with a handkerchief. He was _very_ concerned.

* * *

 **Hello, sorry for the pathetically short chapter, but my computer just started working properly again this morning and I had to put _something out._**

 ** _On to the Review Replies!_**

 _ **penmaster** _**_cole_ : I'm not really sure what you mean, but The Shift will be heavily elaborated upon later in the story ( _very_ soon actually).**

 ** _lumely_ : Don't worry, Richard will be far from invincible, but he will be very strong. He is royalty and it's unlikely that anything below the very best would be expected in his training.**

 _ **Saint**_ **_Lake_ : I was going to explain a little later that Ruby and her parents are pretty much only von Habsburgs in name, they are very distantly related to the main Prussian von Habsburgs, after all, only a select few of them were in Prussian territory during The Shift. There will be flashbacks of the start of Ruby's relationship with Richard, and they will come soon. Your prediction about the Prussian Faunus is surprisingly accurate to what I had in mind and Menagerie has a pretty close relationship with Prussia when the Faunus there gave them supplies when the nation first arrived. Plus the geographic closeness of the two helps in relations a small amount. Probably no chance of unification, but Prussia might vassalize Menagerie under the right circumstances.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be out soon, as long as my computer doesn't have another stroke by Friday.**


	6. Chapter Four

In the chilly breeze that blew through Forever Fall, the four Prussian horsemen (or rather two horsemen and two horsewomen) sang a song to pass the time on the way to Herbst Castle.

' _Heute wollen wir marschier'n  
Einen neuen Marsch probier'n  
In dem schönen Westerwald  
Ja da pfeift der Wind so kalt_

 _Oh, Du schöner Westerwald  
Über Deine Höhen pfeift der Wind so kalt  
Jedoch der kleinste Sonnenschein  
Dringt tief ins Herz hinein_

 _Und die Gretel und der Hans  
Gehn des Sonntags gern zum Tanz  
Weil das Tanzen Freude macht  
Und das Herz im Leibe lacht_…'

The song continued even as Richie frowned and pulled out a pistol with a strange looking handle. He turned slightly to his left and shot a nearby creeping Beowolf, it died after a few shots. The loud clack like gunshots rang out in the forest, and the howls of Beowolves and the roars of Ursai could be heard as they began to converge on the horse riders.

" _Scheisse!_ " Richie blinked and cursed as he realized what was about to happen.

Jaune spoke up, " _Los Los!_ "

Ruby sighed as she pressed Eroberung's sides with her spurs to increase his speed.

" _Gott verdammt Richie!_ " Yang yelled as their mounts canter grew into a fast gallop in order to reach Herbst before they could be confronted by any Grimm.

Yang had been given Kriegsbrand to ride to the castle, and Richie rode his other horse Ableben, whose backside was white, but as you got closer to his head the darker his hair became until it was black, he had a white mane and dull white eyes.

They rushed by several Grimm, galloping much faster than any of their persuers could possible follow. But the threat was still present, and Jaune saw fit to give Herbst some warning.

He pulled out a walkie talkie off of his belt, " _Herbst! Das ist Johann von Arc, ich bin mit dem Kronprinzen und wir gehen mit einer Horde Grimm hinter uns her!_ " a reply came within seconds " _Sir, der erste Grenadiergarde wird Sie am Tor treffen und sich um sie kümmern_."

The large castle came into view, the magnificent gray fortress sat on top of a tall hill and was surrounded by red trees native to Forever Fall, its tall walls and hilltop location giving it ample protection against Grimm and human alike. But they had little time to admire the beautiful view as the threatening growls and howls of Grimm came from behind them.

The gates opened and both infantry and cavalry came flooding out to protect their _Kronprinz_ and the other royals. They galloped through them and into the courtyard, gunshots and swords could be heard as more infantry began to appear on the walls to provide more fire.

The group of around two-hundered Grimm had little holes neatly put into them by the M/88 rounds fired by the bolt-action Gewehr 98's that the guards were equipped with. Followed by brutal slashes and stabs made by Cuirassier's swords.

As the Grimm were slaughtered, the royals were ushered inside the extravagant main entrance of the castle.

The head butler quickly arrived to greet them, "Apologies _Eure Hoheit_ , we didn't expect you for another twenty minutes."

Richie waved it off, "It's of no consequence, we merely wish to relax for the rest of the day. So Ruby and I will retire to our chamber, however Jaune and Yang might require something else instead."

"Jawhol, _Eure Hoheit_." the butler bowed. "Before you leave, Lady Goodwitch has arrived to see you."

Richie's eyes lit up, "Ah, Glynda's here? _Wunderbar,_ bring her into the library by all means!"

The butler nodded and walked out of the room.

 **Hello, sorry about the length and date,** _ **again.**_ **But my computer** _ **did**_ **have another stroke and I finally fixed it for good (hopefully) yesterday, so the next chapter** _ **should**_ _ **hopefully**_ **be out on Friday, like it was** _ **supposed to**_ **be last week** _ **.**_ **Sorry, I'm a little pissed that I had to crunch to write a short chapter that didn't do much due to bullcrap reasons. Next chapter** _ **will**_ **be three-thousand words. Nothing in Heaven, Hell, Earth, or Remnant will stop that.**

 _ **On to the Review Replies!**_

 _ **Bataaf**_ **: No decolonization, for when colonization happens in Remnant, it's usually against Grimm and not other people.**

 _ **Perseus12**_ **: The reaction of the White Fang with appear right before they enter Beacon, so you wont have to wait too long for that. Weiss is in for a** _ **big**_ **surprise when she finds out who Ruby, Richie and Jaune are, believe me. And Salem? Well, the appearance of Prussia** _ **definitely**_ **piqued her interest.**

 _ **Dragonheart51**_ **: I'm afraid I don't know what AlternateHistory is, could you elaborate? I'm interested. But regarding Faunus and Eugenics, as far as I know, Eugenics promoted by the Kaiser Wilhelm institute were** _ **very**_ **tame compared to say Nazi Germany, I think they were more focused on people who had bad genetic disorders (personally something I agree with, though no** _ **culling**_ **, that is just wrong). Besides, they wouldn't wouln't find Faunus inferior due to their superior night vision and hearing, and they certainly wouldn't find non-Faunus people inferior simply due to the fact that not having night vision and super-hearing wouldn't be enough.**

 _ **StormMarine**_ **: Don't worry, Prussia will remain a happy monarchy. But Nazi Germany** _ **might just appear...**_


	7. Chapter Five

Richard von Hohenzollern, Crown Prince of the Prussian Empire (Richard Raeder), in the library of Herbst Castle, to meet Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon Academy. Ruby had decided to hang out with Yang for a while.

The castle had just experienced the arrival of the Crown Prince and his companions and after a short battle between the castle's Grenadiergarde and a large group of Grimm that were chasing the Royals, Glynda Goodwitch was ushered in to meet them. When she entered Richard rose from his seat to meet her.

"Gynda!" he kissed the back of her hand.

"It's good to see you again! What reason do you have to grace us with your presence this afternoon?"

She smiled, "Well, officially, I'm here to arrange a meeting between you and Ozpin, but it's also a bit of a social call."

"Ah, well, let's get the business out of the way first, we'll see what happens after."

She smiled again, "Very well."

"So, when and where does Ozpin want to meet."

"He said he would prefer to meet in his office in a few days, but he doesn't mind if you meet somewhere else."

"Well, I'm totally free for the next week, so tell him to send along the details and I'll set a reminder."

Glynda smiled again, "Ah good, I was hoping it would be this easy. Now I wa-" She was cut off by the sound of her scroll going off.

She sighed and pulled the device out of her pocket. "Oh dear, something has come up, I'm afraid this social call will have to wait."

Richard nodded after staring at the strange device in her hands for a few moments.

"Very well, would you like a mount to take you back? After all, the bullhead you came in on didn't exactly help with keeping the Grimm away."

She blushed, "Ah yes, well, apologies but the bullhead was the fastest way, and Ozpin said to meet you ASAP."

Richie smiled "Well, no worries, take Mariah on the way back and we'll call it even eh?"

"Alright." She smiled.

Richie sighed as Glynda left the room to make her way to the stables.

"Now I can finally see the progress of _Die Glocke_." He walked up to a nearby box on the wall, before taking the bell-shaped handheld speaker off of it and putting next to his ear. He cranked the handle a few times, causing it to make a slight ringing sound. He spoke into the microphone.

"Dr. Maxis? _Ja_ , I'll be coming down to check the progress in an hour. _Ja_ , see you then, I'm expecting the demonstration to go smoothly." He hung up the phone with a clack of its speaker.

It rang just afterward. Richie frowned but picked it up. " _Jawohl,_ This is Herbst Castle. Ozpin! I was not expecting a call so soon. Yes, well that sounds fine by me. I shall be in your office in two days don't worry. _Ja, auf Wiedersehen._ "

Richie sighed again. 'You know what, I'm going to take a nap until I have to meet Maxis.'

He used the telephone once again, "Ruby?" He smiled, "I'm going to take a nap for an hour, then I have to meet Dr. Maxis and Dr. Richtofen. I love you too."

As Richie laid down in his bed, he fell asleep within a few minutes, too soon to see Ruby when she entered the room.

She smiled when she saw him, she began to walk towards his sleeping form, taking off her hood and clothes as she went. She made a quick detour towards the dresser to grab her pajamas before continuing. She slipped into bed with him after she finished dressing. Snuggling happily into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her protectively. She smiled widely and her tail waved from side to side as one of his hands came up to caress her ears. To her it was bliss, and she fell asleep reveling in it. She dreamt, remembering years ago when she and her future hubby met…

The von Habsburgs were visiting the Stadtschloss, Summer Rose had her life saved by Richie's father, Kaiser Wilhelm II when they both went on a Grimm hunting expedition in Vacuo. They were in the luxurious parlor when Summer leaned down to an eight-year-old Ruby.

"Uncle Willy's son is here you know. His name is Richard."

Ruby looked up at her, "Uncwe Wiwwy has a son? Does he like weapons?"

Summer smiled, "I'm sure he does sweetie, he's only a year older than you."

Just then, the Kaiser entered the room with his son right behind him. Wilhelm II was a tall man with light brown hair and light blue eyes that he shared with his son. He had a mustache that turned straight up once it got to the edge of his mouth. His left arm had scars, that were covered up with the short cape of a hussar, from a dramatic birth that nearly led to the stunted growth of the limb.

His son Richie was a shy, skinny child that began to stare at her as soon as he saw her.

Wilhelm talked as soon as he entered, "Summer! It's good to see you again! How's the leg?"

Summer glanced down at the bandaged limb, "It's good to see you again too Willy, and it's alright, my aura stopped most of the damage."

"Just the same, you should probably be careful for a few more days."

Summer laughed, "Well I wouldn't want you to have to save my life a _third_ time, would I?"

They both chuckled, then Wilhelm turned to Ruby, "Would you like to meet Richie here?"

 **Hi, shitty cliffhanger here with another chapter that didn't turn out the way I fucking wanted it to. Shorter than I wanted, and just barely came out on time.**

 **Anyway, next chapter will be out around Friday (probably on Saturday), and will** _ **finally**_ **be 3,000 words because I have a lot of time available next week.**

 **Might start another story, by the way, it would involve a werewolf Jaune.**

 _ **Please**_ **review, it gives me a** _ **hell**_ **of a lot of motivation when I see a review that gives me opinions on what they like or constructive criticism.**


	8. Chapter Six

Ruby blinked adorably at her Uncle Wilhelm, her tiny tail swishing and her small ears twitched, "Who's dat?"

Wilhelm smiled, his pointy mustache curling as he did so. "This here is Richie," He pushed the small prince gently in front of the even smaller _fräulein_. "You two play in the garden will you? Stay close, and if you need anything, call us or a servant."

Richie smiled up at Wilhelm, "OK, Father. We'll behave."

Wilhelm smiled back and patted his sons head before looking to Summer. "Well Sonne, I'm sure you're eager to see Dona again."

"Oh yes! I haven't seen her in ages!" She replied as the two adults left.

Richie broke the brief silence afterwards with an eager request, "May I pet your ears?" He had a giddy smile of his face.

Ruby blinked, said ears wiggling slightly as Richie gazed at them as if they, and by extension her, were the cutest things he'd ever seen. She shyly nodded at him.

The prince, happy to have her approval eagerly took both her sensitive ears in each hand and gently rubbed them.

Ruby was not prepared. She almost instantly went limp against him and began to whine adorably from the pleasurable sensations that were coursing through her.

Richie did not let up, he began to scratch behind the soft lupine appendages as well as rubbing them between his fingers and his thumb.

Ruby was in pure bliss and her cute whines intensified as the pleasure did the same. Soon enough she was panting as her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth.

"Don't tell anyone, but I have a… um… soft spot for cute things. That's why I wanted to pet you." Richie's statement brought Ruby down from her blissful high. "You think I'm cute?" She asked after he had let go of her ears, much to her disappointment.

"You're adorable." He stated, "Just look at you, even if you weren't a _Tierensch_ , you'd be cute."

 _Tierensch_ was the Prussian word for Faunus.

Ruby smiled and hugged him, "Aw! _Danke_!"

Richie gave into his love for cute things quickly and snuggled into the small space between her little wolf ears, earning a brief whine from Ruby.

"Ah! There you two are! We thought you'd be in the garden and you didn't even leave the parlor!"

* * *

 **Hi guys, shitty cliffhanger take two electric boogaloo here, along with pathetically short length. As I was fixing the titles of the previous chapters, I also deleted some crappy drafts of previous chapters, unfortunately, the original copy of this chapter went with it, and I had to write this beginning part from memory, the next chapter will be full length.**

 **About the harem, I realize I didn't make it clear, but it's supposed to be the kind of harem where the girls all like the boy, but the boy doesn't notice.**

 **There was also some confusion on the war situation at the beginning of the last chapter, that was supposed to be a teaser for future chapters, as I explained in that chapters Authors Note.**

 **The** _ **Die Glocke**_ **project is going to be very important in the future.**


	9. Chapter Seven

The first thing Richie thought about when the small alarm clock next to his bed began ringing was if he could stop it by throwing it through the large window in his chamber. As he went to test it, however, the adorable rose snuggled into his chest began to whine.

"Ruby," he cooed as he began to rub her soft wolf ears. " _Liebe_ , I've got to get up and see Maxis and Richtofen."

Ruby grumbled and began to separate herself from him. "Fiiiiine." She pouted, "But we will continue this later."

He smiled and pecked her lips, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

She smiled happily and snuggled into the pillows as he got off the bed.

He walked out of his chambers and heard a strange sound. It sounded like a song, a kind he'd heard before from the many strange music records that appeared randomly in Prussia due to the Shift...

' _Anthony works in the grocery store  
Savin' his pennies for someday  
Mama Leone left a note on the door  
She said, Sonny, move out to the country  
Workin' too hard can give you  
A heart attack (ack)  
You oughta know by now (oughta know)  
Who needs a house out in Hackensack  
Is that what you get with your money…'_

The voice was familiar… Richard began to walk toward the source of the catchy music.

' _It seems such a waste of time  
If that's what it's all about  
Mama if that's movin' up  
Then I'm movin' out  
I'm movin' out'_

He reached an old bookcase and pulled on a copy of _The Raven and Other Poems,_ another result of the Shift. The bookcase slid back and then sideways, revealing a well lit hidden stairway made of cobblestone.

' _Sergeant O'Leary is walkin' the beat_

 _At night he becomes a bartender_

 _He works at Mister Cacciatore's down_

 _On Sullivan Street_

 _Across from the medical center_

 _He's tradin' in his Chevy for a Cadillac_

 _You oughta know by now_

 _And if he can't drive_

 _With a broken back_

 _At least he can polish the fenders'_

An audible click came from down the stairs as the song stopped. The prince paused for a moment before continuing. The music was very catchy, and he was slightly disappointed when it stopped playing. But he continued down the stone staircase, intent on finding the source, and it appeared that it was at the bottom, fair enough, he needed to head down there to talk to Maxis and Richtofen anyway.

 _Die Glocke_ was waiting, along with a possibility of explaining the Shift.

* * *

If Johann, now Jaune, were to be asked if he was excited for Beacon, he would ask if Yang was blonde. He had been dreaming of helping people, killing Grimm and being a hero since he was five years old. He knew that most of the population of Remnant weren't particularly fond of Prussians and their 'oppressive monarchy', and many would frown at the sight of him if they knew of his status as a noble.

But that wouldn't stop him from helping them as much as he could, and the Arc Coal Company would help him accomplish his goal.

His great-grandfather had founded the company after the Great War, although it was recently delving deep into the oil business due to the massive oil reserves his father had found scattered around Remnant. It was one of the biggest companies in Prussia and by extension the world. As hard as the Schnee Dust Company tried to addict Prussians to dust like the rest of the world, they simply found the substance to be far too dangerous and strange, so the Prussian Empire stuck with coal and oil. Coal powered engines and oil-lit houses.

He walked through the castle courtyard, every once and a while, a shot from a G98 would be squeezed off, either to kill or injure a Grimm. Blood red leaves crunched underneath his feet as he walked to the clock tower, troops saluting him as he passed by. As he walked up to the entrance a guard stopped him.

"Herr Arc, your sister is on the telephone and she wishes to speak with you."

Jaune sighed, "Alright, lead me to it."

The guard saluted, "Jawhol!"

He walked away and Jaune followed.

* * *

As Richard's boots clacked against the stone staircase, he briefly glanced at a sign, ' _Die Glockenprojec_ t'. He approached two large wooden doors with their guards sitting at a table a card game, two weapons leaning against the table, a G98 and a Mauser M1897, a pump action shotgun made for close range encounters.

Once they saw Richard, the guards got up so quickly that the guard who owned the G98 had the _Pickelhaube_ fall off his head and hit the floor with a clang. The Prince chuckled as one soluted and the other quickly bent down to pick up his fallen helmet.

" _Eure Hoheit!_ We weren't expecting you for another few minutes." said the saluting one, a tall black-haired man with a mustache.

" _Vergib uns_ for not being prepared." said the other after he picked up his helmet and stood at attention. He was slightly shorter than the other and was cleanly shaven.

Richie waved his hand nonchalantly, "It does not matter, I should have announced my approach." He turned to the door, "Well if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Maxis and Richtofen."

" _Jawhol_!"

Their boots made a _clump!_ as they moved to the sides of the doors to open them.

The room wasn't too large, it was well lit and it had stone walls. There were thick wires and machinery lying around in corners, there was a desk with some sort of safe on it in a corner, a chalkboard covered in scientific equations and questions stood next to it. But in the middle, there was a large bell-shaped capsule with a large Iron Cross on the front of it.

A bald man with a beard quickly waved to him from the desk, a younger man with a thin mustache stood next to him.

" _Eure Hoheit!_ It is good to see you have arrived!", the man greeted.

"Maxis." Richard smiled. "Good to see you."

He turned to the other man, "It is good to see you as well Richtofen."

"Good evening _Eure Hoheit_." Richtofen smiled.

"May I ask what that music I was hearing as I approached was?"

"Ah, that was a record that was found on the premises the other day, it seems even Prussian land that wasn't transported from the Old World has items appearing on it, we were listening to see if it was good or not."

Maxis clapped Richthofen on the back, "Anyway, on to business, Edward here has created a device that seems to have harnessed the Shift energy," he stated. "I believe that this machine could be used to do many great things."

Richtofen smiled briefly, "It does appear to do as he says, although the most we have been able to displace is a dog."

Richard furrowed his brow, "Displace? I'm not sure what you mean."

Richtofen seemed to gain a small glint in his eyes, "Ah! Indeed, _Displace_ is the term we have decided to use to describe the uh… teleportation that occurs when the device is used, makes it sound slightly less absurd you understand."

Richard nodded before he looked at Richtofen with surprise, "The machine can _teleport_ things?! _Gott im Himmel_ , the things we could do with such technology!"

A bell rang at the desk in the corner, "Ah! The mixture is ready!" Maxis swiftly walked away to his unknown project.

"What was that?"

"Oh, it's just a hobby of his, he seems to be making great progress on whatever it is."

"Indeed, but what is the business with this _Displacer_ of yours?"

Richtofen snapped his fingers, "Of course, come along here and I'll explain our progress and the inner workings of the Displacer and the Shift."

He walked over to another room off to the side which led to a breakroom of sorts, it had a couch, a radio, an refrigerator, and a table with a few padded chairs.

Richtofen headed to the refrigerator, "You see, we believed that the Shift was initiated by God at first, and it might very well still be, but the Shift has Displaced an element from the Old World that appears to cause its _own_ Shifts!" He took out a bottle of liquor, "Champagne?"

"No, thank you."

Richtofen nodded, "Anyway, this new element, I have named it _Richtofanium_ , seems to cause small tears in the fabric of space and time." He paused to take a drink, and Richard took the opportunity to butt in.

"The Shift does the same correct?"

"Indeed, but Richtofanium can be harnassed, while whatever is causing the Shift cannot, however, Richtofanium itself is very dangerous, it releases a type of radiation the heavily mutates and kills all cell types."

"Is there a way to neutralize the radiation?" Richard asked.

Richtofen nodded, "Yes there is, thank god. A mixture of heavily refined lightning and gravity dust neutralizes most negative effects of prolonged exposure to Richtofanium, but thankfully leaves the useful ones."

Richard clapped his hands together excitedly, "Excellent, now, when can I have a demonstration ready?"

"We can have a small demonstration now if you wish?"

"Perfect."

* * *

 **Hello all, I decided to ditch the 'harem' subplot due to complaints. I've also decided to ditch the schedule I was attempting to set up, because there are just too many other things happening in my life and I don't want to feel the pressure to put a chapter of reasonable length out every week, I have no clue how Coeur** **Al'Aran does it with so many stories with such long chapters that are excellently written. The man is a God.**

 **Please review and tell me what you like and what you don't. I'll see if I can improve, but I need _you guys_ to tell me.**


	10. Chapter Eight

**Apologies for my tardiness, explanation after the chapter.**

* * *

The bell-shaped chamber and its attached components crackled and sparked with energy as Richtofen and Richard approached a small control panel to its left.

"What exactly is going to happen during this demonstration?" the prince asked. "I already know _something_ is going to teleport if all goes well, but are we sending or receiving?"

The black-haired scientist next to him briefly looked up before he continued his configuration. "We should be receiving, _Eure Hoheit_ , _Der Riese_ near _Breslau_ should send a package of various documents of unknown origin found nearby there due to the Shift."

Richard raised an eyebrow. "Have the documents been investigated there?"

"Indeed they have, they are sending copies to us for Maxis and myself to study while we are here at _Herbst_. We are to compare findings and merge studies with doctors Groph, Schuster, and Porter in two months."

Richtofen pressed a button and began to guide the prince a few feet away.

" _Eure Hoheit_ , I present…", blue electricity began to spark between the top and bottom of the teleporter.

"...one of the greatest inventions of our time!"

 **CRASH!**

There was a bright flash as the teleporter finished its work, and once Richard reopened his eyes, a black briefcase sat neatly on a table in the middle of the once empty space in the teleporter.

" _Gott im Himmel…_ ", Richard began to walk slowly to the briefcase, each step bringing him closer to the impossible as Richtofen watched and smiled.

"It actually teleports…", Richard absentmindedly scratched the hair on his upper lip that marked the beginning of a mustache. He reached out and picked up the briefcase.

He turned to the scientist, "Do you have any idea what we could do with this?!", he asked with glee.

"With enough efficiency, we could transport an entire _Armeegruppe_ hundreds of miles in just a day!" The Kings son placed the briefcase on a large table nearby. "Not to mention, if this could be miniaturized, attrition would be nearly non-existent! You certainly have my approval for this project, yes sir!"

Richtofen's smile widened, with the support of both the King and the Crown Prince, he and Maxis would have enough funding to last a lifetime.

But his thoughts of success and progress were interuppted when, quite suddenly, everything went black.

" _Hurensohn!_ " A guard cried out.

There was a rumble throughout the underground facility.

" _Was ist das?!_ " Maxis cried out from somewhere in the pitch black.

A mechanical beeping sounded throughout the room, a sound all too familiar to Richard.

 _.- .-.. . .-. - / .- .-.. . .-. - / .- .-.. .-.. / .- ...- .- .. .-.. .- -... .-.. . / ... - .-.. -.. .. . .-. ... / .-. . .-. - .-. - / - - / - - .-. / .. -. -.-. - - .. -. -. / .- - - .- -.-. -.-_

The Vail Code concept had appeared in a housewife's garden in southern Potsdam a decade before, it was quickly adopted as the standard for wireless communication in Prussia, and Richard had studied it during his tutoring.

"There is an attack taking place above! All available troops come with me!" He yelled as the power began to flicker back on.

The sounds of his boots as he marched up the stone staircase were echoed by the fifty or so men following his lead. They reached the top quickly.

Richard pointed down the hall towards the exit. "Go quickly outdoors and follow _Hauptmann_ von Arc's command until I return!"

" _Jawhol!_ ", the group quickly made their way outside, as Richard ran to his chambers.

He barged in the door and briefly noted that Ruby had left, likely to help in the defense. He quickly went to the bookcase and pulled a book halfway out, the bookcase slid to the side. Behind it, was a wall of various weapons and armors, acting quickly, he put on a grey cloak that matched his coat and pants, and a black _Pickelhaube_ with a golden eagle emblazoned on it and a spike of the same color on top. The two articles completed his _Oberst_ uniform, his personal rank within the Royal Prussian Army. He moved on to weapons as the _boom!_ of a 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. sounded, the light artillery hopefully blowing whatever it was firing at to pieces.

Richard quickly picked up his Mauser C96 and placed it in the holster on his hip. Next was his M1885 Reichsrevolver, which went in a secondary holster on the front of his belt. Then, his Gewehr 98, the soon-to-be standard rifle of the Prussian military went on one of the two rifle holsters on his back. Next, his Mauser M1897 shotgun, it took up the other rifle holster. Finally, his Blücher sword. Plentiful ammo for his weapons laid within the many pouches on his belt.

As he rushed from his room, the last thing he grabbed was a pack of _Ersatztabak_ cigars. As he quickly made his way down the hall, he lit one in the process. Blücher sword in his right hand and C96 in his left, he ran out the opened double doors leading to the large courtyard.

There was chaos.

Well, not quite chaos, more like controlled chaos, or at least contained chaos.

There were hundreds of men on the ramparts, firing various weapons, mostly Gewehr 98's and a few Bergmann MG 95nA machine guns went _rattatatat_ as they fired into various Grimm from their mounted positions, and up above, was Jaune, a _Leutnant_ and an _Oberleutnant_ were nearby him.

" _Hauptmann!_ " Richard called, "Give me a report on the situation!"

Jaune's gaze snapped to him, brow furrowed and a scowl on his face. "The Grimm are attacking from all sides sir, thousands of them, most appear to be Creeps, Beowolves, and Ursa, but there are Deathstalkers and Nevermore as well. The defenses are holding up, Ruby is up in the north tower putting her marksmanship skills to the test, and Yang is circling the inner walls dispatching any Grimm that get over."

Richard nodded, "Any chance of air support? Perhaps the _Kronprinz_ can initiate a naval bombardment to the rear?"

Jaune sighed, "I've been told that _Herbst_ Luftwaffe base is experiencing its own attack, though one much smaller than ours." He turned to the Leutnant, "Get down to the radio room and tell the _Kronprinz_ of our situation, see if they can relieve some of our stress."

The man saluted, " _Jawohl, Hauptmann!_ "

Jaune rubbed his face with his hands, Richard took this opportunity to speak, "Don't worry _Hauptmann_ , it's only a few thousand Grimm, we'll be fine." He offered something in his hand, "Cigar?"

Jaune smiled briefly, "Ah, no thank you _Oberst_ , this attack just interrupted a conversation with my _schwester_. So I'm a little miffed because she is likely to exaggerate the story when she tells my other sisters. Can't wait to explain to them that, no I, in fact, wasn't about to go kill an entire horde in one strike."

Richard laughed, "Oh I'm sure it won't be that bad, now, if you'll excuse me, I must join in the battle."

Jaune nodded, "I'll call for you if anything relevant comes up."

"Good man."

* * *

Ruby's tail flicked from side to side angrily as she ruthlessly fired and fired upon the Grimm. She had been enjoying a small nap while practically _bathed_ in comfy blankets and Richie's scent when a Behemoth had attempted to destroy the outer wall for its comrades and the power had flickered off for a few seconds.

She was rarely this angry over something this small, but now Richie was probably going to be wary about any new attacks for the next few days and she wouldn't get _nearly_ the amount of loving that she required from her hubby!

 _Bang!_ The head of another Creep exploded, and the Beowolf next to it was torn apart by mounted machine gun fire.

The two Prussian Grenadier regiments stationed at Herbst were holding the walls well, there weren't any casualties that she could see from her perch at the top of the highest castle tower, and the seemingly endless horde of Grimm was slowly beginning to thin, very slowly.

The old dark blue and white uniforms of the Napoleonic days and the Great War had long since been abandoned, the even older bright colored blue and orange uniforms of Frederick the Great's time were even more outdated. They had instead been replaced by more modest alternatives, like grey and other dull colors, with the occasional red stripe on the edges of sections of cloth. Very boring in Ruby's opinion, at least the dress uniforms some of the men below put on in haste were more stylish.

Although just about everything Richie wore looked stylish on him, like that _Oberst_ uniform he was wearing while talking to Jaune. Ruby licked her lips, her tail thumping against the floor she sat on.

Jaune briefly pointing to her position broke her train of thought, she blushed, shifted Crescent Rose back to the massive horde, racking the bolt as she did so, and began to re-engage.

* * *

 **Hi guys, sorry about being late, it was mostly me being a lazy POS and not having much motivation to write, I'll try to do better.**

 **I've ditched the subplot I was starting a couple chapters ago with the Kaiserreich scenario in 1944, it just doesn't fit with the rest of the story, won't add anything to it, and would likely confuse the hell out of most people reading. So if you go back to that chapter those few paragraphs will not be there.**

 **Also, if you haven't got it, Richard's father is Kaiser Wilhelm II, the real life last German Kaiser and Prussian King, who reigned from June 15th,real-lifeil his abdication on November 9th, 1918 shortly before Germany's defeat in the First World War. Richard is supposed to be an alternative to the Kaiser's real son, Wilhelm III, they are different in both appearance and personality however. Richard's siblings will be their real counterparts however.**

 **The Vail code is Morse code, but using the name of the man who actually invented it, and not an artist who didn't contribute much.**

 **All the Prussian weapons portrayed in this chapter are real, except the M1885 Reichsrevolver, that is a fictional advancement of the real-life M1883 variant, although weapons like the mounted machine gun featured here wouldn't be around until 1915, this will be explained later in the story. (It's because of the Shift)**

 _ **Review Replies**_ **:**

 **SuspectNutria: Welcome aboard! The story will emphasize more Prussian culture and activity of this time later, but I have to establish some things in Vale first.**

 **Perseus12: Actually, Prussia wasn't taken from Earth, like in most stories of this vein, but actually copied, with the copy being placed on Remnant. This was briefly addressed during the Prologue.**

 **joeyginise: Due to the Shift, Prussian tech is all over the place. Fun fact, the telephone Richard uses, which is about 10 years ahead of time, was used by Mr. Banks in the movie Mary Poppins, which takes place in 1910.**

 **DIOS de la Nada (apologies because we're gonna be here a while) : In your Chapter 2 review, you seem upset that all the protagonists know each other even in the large world of Remnant, you said** ' _ **The remnant world is huge, but by magic all the protagonists know each other, what a coincidence match, right?  
: V I get off this ship.'**_ **(That is copied and pasted from the review). Well, we have met** _ **four**_ **main characters, one of which isn't in the show, we have yet to meet Blake or Weiss, neither of whom know each other or the characters already shown, we also haven't seen** _ **any**_ **of team JNPR except for Jaune, and have no reason to believe they know each other or the characters already shown. Out of the 9 planned protagonists, we have met 4, and haven't even mentioned the others. Your review makes no sense, even if you assume that JNPR isn't going to be big in the story (which they will), we haven't seen** _ **half**_ **of team RWBY, the main protagonists of the actual show.**

 **In your review of the prologue, you ask why I chose to have many children of humans in Prussia have Faunus children (in a way that made it sound like the most absurd and stupid thing you've ever heard btw, quite rude considering this is the world of fucking** _ **RWBY**_ **, with magic and brother gods and aura) this is because I needed a way to make Prussia tolerant of Faunus, and I thought this would be the best way, if half of the population suddenly started having children that had Faunus traits, they'd** _ **have**_ **to be tolerant or they would be discriminating against their own children. Mass immigration sure as hell wouldn't work (if anything it would have made Prussians** _ **intolerant**_ **towards them). You then say how Prussia helped win the Napoleonic Wars, ok, don't really know why you did that. You ask if this is historical rewriting,** _ **yes**_ **, I have put a country from early 19th century Europe into Remnant,** _ **I have rewritten quite a bit of history**_ **, about 80 years of it. It's a little obvious, I'm not sure why you asked this. You say that there are a few dates where different people were the King of Prussia, and appear to be confused as to who is, well, when in doubt, look to the most chronologically recent date and assume that is when it takes place. There is a reason I haven't mentioned Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia, because he was born in 1976, and mentioning him in a narrative story that takes place in 1898 makes no fucking sense. You state that Otto von Bismarck was the man that united Germany, I know, but this isn't Germany, it's Prussia, and here, Prussia annexed all the land in 1816, that we would call Germany in 1871. This is not real life and therefore won't have everything in common with it. You say Prussia is in the middle of the Imperialist era, yet they have 21st-century morals, I have not brought morals into play unless you count the previously mentioned Prussian Faunus, but that is literally only one example.**

 **In your Chapter 2 review, you say 'I get off this ship', I assume that means you are going to stop reading.**

 **Good.**

 _ **SilverTails555**_ **: While I enjoy that pairing as well, I won't be in this particular story of mine. Maybe in a future endeavor of mine.**

 _ **Please**_ **REVIEW GODAMMIT with any questions (that can't be answered simply by reading more of the story), encouragement, or mistakes you've noticed that you want to be fixed, and constructive criticism.**

 **Apologies for the long Authors Note, this is (hopefully) a one-time thing.**

 **Now, it's 1:16 AM, and I have Finals in about 7-8 hours, time to sleep.**

 **Next chapter will come sooner than this one did.**


	11. Chapter Nine

**Hyello comrades am back from Siberia, time to drink much wodka (Hello guys, I'm back from being a little lazy dickhead, time to get back to work).**

* * *

Richie gave Jaune a brief salute before making his way quickly down the stairs connecting the short tower to the wall below. He walked briskly to the corner, boots stomping and the familiar sound of Yang's gauntlets going off as she passed the wall he stood upon. Crescent Rose could be heard faintly from the tower on the other side of the castle over the loud sounds of gunfire, artillery, and men shouting in German.

A rapid beeping came from the telegraph station below as he made his way to the small artillery emplacement a few dozen yards away. The airfield adjacent to Herbst was on the receiving end of its own attack and was requesting orders from Hauptmann Arc.

Richard stopped outside the office and briefly wondered if the Zeppelin there should be used, it would prove an excellent asset to use in defense. He shook his head absentmindedly, fighters could not be scrambled in time to defend the airship in the skies as most of the pilots were defending the airfield on the ground.

He was broken from his thoughts as he noticed an artillery crew struggling to work the piece they were manning, they looked very tired and their clothes were disheveled. He scoffed and walked to them quickly as other crews continued firing high-explosive rounds at the Grimm.

The Prinz spoke up as he reached them, "What are you doing?! You are part of one of the most elite units in the military and you are having trouble firing a weapon that you have been manning for four years?"

The men looked at him in horror. He scoffed again and rolled his eyes. "Move aside for a moment and I'll demonstrate the proper way to load and fire a _Feldkanone_ , as you men seem to have forgotten."

The men quickly jumped out of his way and stood at attention. Richard picked up an explosive shell and quickly approached the 7.7 cm FK 96 n.A. artillery piece.

He turned the crank that opened the chamber and shoved the shell in, the crank was turned again and the chamber closed. Richard looked over his shoulder to see the men still at attention, yet staring at him. He smirked before pulling on the line that acted as a trigger to cause the field gun to fire.

There was a loud _boom!_ and a Goliath about half a mile away was blown to pieces.

The Crown Prince backed away from the cannon and motioned toward it. "Gentlemen." They snapped out of their stupor before quickly beginning to man the weapon again. He chuckled lightly at the sight before moving on to take part in the action.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away in the city of Berlin, Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Hohenzollern, also known as Kaiser Wilhelm II or simply Wilhelm II or even Kaiser Bill, was…

Kneeling on the floor of his only daughter's room, viciously tickling the six-year-old _Prinzessin_ Viktoria while the Kaiserin laughed joyously along with her husband and daughter.

" _Vati!_ " Viktoria cried between gasps and laughs. " _Hör auf! Hör auf!_ "

The Kaiser laughed, " _Noch nie!_ This is your punishment for taking cookies from their jar without permission!"

" _Eure Majestät!_ " the head butler of the von Hohenzollerns, Rudolph Sieben, knocked on the door to the room rapidly, before entering. "Herbst Castle is under attack by the Grimm!"

All laughing in the room stopped as the information was processed.

" _Mein Gott_." The Kaiserin said, placing her hand on her chest and staring wide-eyed at the butler.

Wilhelm scooped up his daughter and placed her on her bed. "Listen, Sissy, your mother and I are going to speak with Rudolph for a little while, you just sit here and play with your toys _Liebling._ "

"Okay, vati." The small girl said happily.

The Kaiser smiled briefly at his daughter before grabbing his shocked wife and guiding her to the door. "Rudolph, take Dona to her room and get her some tea, I'm going to the telegraph office." The butler nodded and began to lead Augusta away.

Wilhelm huffed anxiously before quickly heading away.

* * *

Sixty-six-year-old Count Alfred von Waldersee, ex-Chief of the Prussian General Staff and current commander of the important Prussian garrison at Menagerie, looked through his binoculars from his horse at the large bandit encampment in the distance that he intended to destroy. He had become the head of the garrison after taking a trip to Menagerie and enjoying the island so much he had elected to stay, although the Kaiser had been reluctant to give him command of the garrison, as he would have preferred von Waldersee to remain as Chief of the General Staff.

He turned one of his aides, "Commence a brief artillery bombardment and tell the men to prepare for the attack, it will commence in ten minutes." The man saluted at von Waldersee and quickly rode away to follow his orders.

A few minutes later artillery shells came flying over their heads before exploding in the camp and destroying the walls. Count von Waldersee smiled briefly, "Commence the attack." He turned the binoculars to see an infantry regiment charge through the hole in the walls and attack the bandits. Most used shotguns, others used pistols, and some even used their Gewehr 88's despite the close range and 'old' age of the rifle.

His spectating was interrupted by an aide, "Sir, Ghira Belladonna wishes to speak with you."

The Count sighed, "Very well, send him a message and tell him I will speak to him when I arrive and that I'm on my way to his residence now."

The aide saluted, "Yes sir!"

* * *

 **Hello guys, sorry for the delay, there really is no excuse other than laziness and lack of motivation. In order to combat this, I've decided to reincorporate scheduled updates. From now on chapters will come out every Friday give or take a day.**

 **I am also going to start two new stories.**

 **One will be called Johann von Arc and will be about Jaune living in Prussia in the 1800s.**

 **The other will be called Comissioner Arc and will be about Jaune in the Resident Evil universe, mildly inspired by _Resident Huntsman_ , although I had the idea in my head before that story was posted.**

 **Not sure when these will come out, but they will come out relatively soon.**

 _ **Review**_ ** _Replies_ :**

 **joeyginise: Apologies, Prussia mostly has WW1 tech, so they use biplanes and U-boats, Richie will pilot a Fokker Dr.I later in the story. There will be Zeppelins, _WW2_ tanks and the Enigma machine. Along with some mechanized infantry units using the . 251. DM me if you want to ask specific questions.**

 **Clarence Potter: Thanks for the support and the correction, I'll use that term in the future instead.**

 **SilverTails555: Jaune is a Captain in the Prussian Military, and will _eventually_ be a General.**

 **Guest: Thank you, they will be in Beacon in about 2-3 chapters**

 **Alright, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please, for the love of god, REVIEW GODDAMNIT. Thx.**


	12. Chapter Ten

**Just kill me.**

* * *

The Kronprinz dodged a swipe from a Beowolf and used the sharp edge of his saber to lightly deflect the Grimm's arm, effectively causing it to slice its own flesh open. Still facing the beowolf, he raised the C96 in his left hand and emptied a clip into the Creep that was racing toward him in the corner of his vision. The incredibly fast fire rate of the pistol when it was switched to full-auto was matched only by a few weapons in the entire world. A grunt came from him as he moved and stabbed his saber as deep into beowolf as it would go, earning him a loud mix of a roar and a whine. Letting go of the handle he backed away, pulling a new stripper clip out of a pouch while he did so. He couldn't help but smile a little as the Beowolf ravaged its own internal organs on his sword as it moved to attack him. Nobody said beowolves were smart. It fell dead at his feet as he chambered a round and the empty stripper clip made a _ting!_ as it flipped through the air.

As he ripped the sword out of the body he noticed a Boarbatusk spinning toward him quickly. He gave a short chuckle before reaching into his pocket to grab a cigar that he placed in his mouth before leaning forward a little bit. Richard raised his and snapped his fingers, a gunshot rang out, and about half a second later the pig's brains were splattered all over the ground, and puffs of smoke came from his cigar.

The prince looked up to the castle tower in the distance, smirked and winked at the shining reflection of a scope that came from a window at the top.

* * *

The Kaiser's horse, _Stern_ , named for the pattern of white hair on his face, trotted down _Unter den Linden_ , arguably the most important street in Prussia. Many people stared and gaped at their monarch as he made his way past them, he waved at some and smiled at others, but there was no stopping or slowing down. He made a sharp right turn off the iconic road and onto a smaller one.

The _Königliches telegraphenamt_ was the national telegraph office, a place without much glory but incredibly important nonetheless. Messages sent from there would bounce wirelessly between various strategically placed lighthouses and ships until it reached its destination overseas, or it would simply travel by wire across Europa to another city with a telegraph station.

Wilhelm quickly handed the reins to one of the saluting guards before entering the rather plain looking building. He was worried, he knew deep down that his son and future daughter-in-law would be fine, they were highly trained and a simple attack would not defeat them or the garrison, but he couldn't stop the natural parental instincts that controlled him now. Because of those intense instincts, he barely noticed the delivery man he bumped into that was about to rush out the door.

" _Your Majesty!"_ the man gasped as he grabbed for the envelope he had nearly dropped.

Wilhelm merely pinched the short brim of his _pickelhaube_ as aknowledgement as he walked away towards the front desk, the various guards saluted him, and everybody else took their hats off in respect as they stared at him.

" _Hauptmann."_ Wilhelm spoke to one of the men behind the front desk.

" _Yes, Sir!"_ The captain shot up out of his chair and stood at attention.

" _It has recently come to my attention that Oberst Castle is under attack by Grimm."_ Wilhelm stated. " _Send a telegram to the castle and give me a report, and I want it within the half-hour."_ The captain's reply was cut off when the delivery man he had bumped into earlier interrupted him.

" _Your Majesty! There is a telegram for you from Ghira Belladonna."_ the man stated eagerly. The Kaiser scowled as he turned to the man.

" _Well it had better be important if you are so willing to interrupt a conversation."_ He said in a stern voice.

The man nodded rapidly and lowered his voice, " _He wants to proceed with vassalization sir."_

Wilhelm's light blue eyes widened for a moment, " _Does he? Let me see the telegram."_ After the man gave him the envelope the Kaiser hastily opened it. " _Wunderbar, come with me and I'll give you my response for Menagerie."_

The young man saluted him and smiled eagerly, " _Yes, sir!"_

* * *

 _ **This teaser will be deleted tomorrow and replaced by a full chapter.**_

 **So much for the weekly update thing. Writer's block is an incredible bitch. I've started writing a crossover story for Resident Evil and RWBY in January and the first chapter still isn't done, so that really shows how bad it is. Maybe I'll be more pressed to write it because I've told you about it. It's called Commissioner Arc.**

 _ **Review Reply (Cause there's only one I think):**_

 _ **Jack Redhawke**_ **: Well Summer and Qrow's last names also end in von Habsurg, I figured that was obvious but I guess it wasn't, I'll stress that more in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter Eleven

**Don't ever expect me to be on time for anything ever.**

* * *

Count von Waldersee sighed to himself but smiled nonetheless at the many faunus children that were looking out their windows and doors to look in amazement at the column of pickelhaube clad troops that marched just behind him, a few units of cavalry followed by infantry, artillery and then some more infantry. The children were often familiar faces, most of them were admirers of the Prussian garrison at had essentially occupied the continent of Menagerie since the alliance between the two was formed just after the Great War.

Unfortunately, there was a large amount of what were essentially 'refugees' from places like Atlas and northern Mistral that had fled to escape racial persecution and held a grudge against humans, whether they were treated fairly by them or not.

The count let his smile drop when he remembered ten years before when an angry mob of the 'refugees' had attacked and killed a few people in a small group of innocent human tourists that the mob thought had harassed and sexually assaulted a young faunus woman the night before. It had later turned out that the woman had merely been catcalled and had gotten so angry she made up the rest.

Von Waldersee blinked when he saw the chieftains home, it was built in a style that most Prussians would describe as Oriental, although few citizens of Menagerie actually were oriental. It was a large home, seemingly larger on the inside as it looked beautiful, if of a modest size when observed from the outside.

The count turned to speak to an aide, "Go to the telegraph office and inform Berlin that the bandit problem on the north of the continent has been taken care of."

"Yes, sir!" the blonde-haired aide saluted and began to trot away towards the building down the street that held the telegraph office that connected Menagerie to Prussia, and due to the nearest CCT tower being very far out of range, the rest of the world.

He handed his horse to another aide and walked up the steps leading to the house. Kali Belladonna herself was waiting for him at the top of said stairs.

"Good afternoon Alfred!" she called to him as he reached the top. "Would you like some tea? Perhaps some coffee?"

"Oh, tea would be grand Frau Belladonna." The count responded.

Kali giggled a little bit and offered him her hand once he reached her, "Very well, I'll put a kettle on the stove right away! Oh, and please, if I'm going to call you Alfred, I must insist that you call me Kali."

He smiled and kissed her knuckles, "Very well Kali. May I ask where your husband is?"

She waved him inside to sit in the parlor, "Oh, he will be out directly Alfred. He's just making sure he doesn't look like a barbarian while you two talk." she sat him down in a rather comfortable chair. "You sit right here while I go make the tea." She left him there.

Von Waldersee sighed and leaned back into the chair, the day of riding, planning, attacking, and then more riding had taken quite a bit out of him, and he decided to allow himself a few minutes rest while he waited for Ghira to arrive.

The bandits that he had attacked had been terrorizing a few small settlements farther inland for a few months now, and Ghira would undoubtedly be elated to find that they had been taken care of. Said bandits were actually given the opportunity to surrender and receive reduced sentences, but few had surrendered or turned themselves in and that had resulted in massive casualties for them in the final attack on their small, improvised wooden fort.

'Bandits…' the count thought to himself. The Branwen twins were related to several infamous Remnantian bandits, most of whom led the tribes they were a part of. Raven Branwen, the sister of the husband of the previous head of the von Habsburgs, had even been offered leadership of the largest bandit tribe on the continent of Anima by her cousin, Ivory Branwen. The fact that the Crown Prince was to marry a niece of the woman was quite concerning. But she hadn't done anything bad, and the marriage contract had been made even before the children were born.

His musings on topics that currently weren't essential for him to ponder were interrupted by Ghira Belladonna walking through one of the doors that led to the parlor. The large man was dressed in a black suit that appeared quite strange on him given his usual attire.

"Alfred! I'm glad you have arrived! Has Berlin sent you any telegrams?" the large man said and asked as he put his hand out for a handshake.

The count took his outstretched hand. "It's good to see you Ghira. I'm not sure about any telegrams, the man I sent to the office has yet to-"

His response was cut off by the aide he had sent to the telegraph office entering the room after being led in by one of the Belladonna's very few servants. The man saluted once he saw the two.

"Sir! I have sent the telegram as you asked. This message was waiting for you at the office for when you arrived." He handed von Waldersee the envelope in his hands and stood at attention.

"Thank you, _Wachtmeister_ Müller, you may return to your duties." the count said as he took the piece of paper.

" _Jawohl!_ " the aide replied as he saluted, a few seconds after he walked out of the door.

Von Waldersee turned to Ghira, "Please give me a moment to read this."

"No trouble at all."

The older man reached into a pocket on the front of his uniform jacket, pulled out a pair of spectacles and began to read the telegram.

At that moment, Kali came back in with tea and cups to go with it. "Hello, you two!"

The men responded with greetings of their own.

Kali silently poured three cups of tea, a small smile never leaving her face as she did so. When she was finished she took a cup, announced that she was off to do some writing and left.

The count spoke a few seconds after she left, "It says here that I am to represent the Prussian Empire in the negotiations of the vassalization of the chiefdom of Menagerie."

The chieftain nodded, "I was hoping they would choose you, It will be much easier to negotiate with someone friendly."

The count nodded back, "I am glad as well." a small smile graced his features, "Well, would you like to begin?"

* * *

Richard panted lightly as he finished off a couple of Ursa Major. The attack on Herbst by the Grimm was appearing to near its end, after starting forty-five minutes before.

He looked into the distance at Herbst, specifically at the tower that contained his adorable fiance. The shining of the reflection of her scope told him she was still keeping an eye on him. He smiled at her.

Richard placed his Gewehr 98 back in its scabbard on his back and set his left hand on the handle of his sword.

"Well, time to head back, machine gun fire and artillery will finish off any stragglers, thank god there were only a few Behemoths."

He placed two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. A few seconds later _Kriegsbrand_ came galloping through the treeline. The crown prince smiled as he saw one of his faithful mounts approach.

" _Hallo_ boy, let's head back to Ruby eh?" he asked as he got on the horses back. The horse knickered after he did so and began to canter back to the castle.

At the castle, things were beginning to calm down as Richard arrived, most machine gun emplacements and artillery pieces had tarps thrown on them, ammo boxes were being returned to the armory or the small munitions shed in the courtyard. Several custodians were assisted by a few _Gefreiters_ on cleaning duty in picking up the various shell casings from the ground and battlements, whether they were spent artillery shells or empty bullet casings. It was a tedious job and Richard sure didn't envy them.

After he handed the reins to another _Gefreiter_. Jaune walked up to him.

"Richard! It's good to see you back safe. I've given back direct command to the _Kommandant_ and let me tell you, I am _very_ ready to relax." Jaunes shoulders dropped a little as he finished his statement.

Richard smiled, "Well, now that the attack is over, I think it's a perfectly good time to engage in recreational activities wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, I could not agree more if God himself told me to."

Their conversation was interrupted prematurely when a black and red missile impacted Richard's chest. Causing him to fall backward with an _Oof!_

"Richie! I'm so glad you're back!" Ruby squealed into him as she tightened her grip around his torso. A few soldiers chuckled quietly at their Crown Prince's antics with his eventual wife.

Richard chuckled and squeezed her back. "I'm glad too, even if I was gone for less than an hour. Where is Yang?"

Jaune spoke up for Ruby, who was busy wagging her tail back and forth at the speed of sound. "Yang was slightly disheveled by a few fights and has gone inside to wash up."

Richard nodded and picked Ruby up bridal style. "Well Ruby, shall we head back to our chambers?"

His only response was the happy panting of the girl in his arms as he scratched a specific spot behind her wolf ears. 'You are so cute.' Richard briefly thought as he began to walk away after saying 'See you soon' to Jaune.

Unfortunately, his walk to their chambers was prevented by a soldier with a telegram.

" _Your Highness!_ You have received a telegram from Headmaster Ozpin." he paused, and seeing the expectant look on his superiors face, continued, "It says that due to the attack on our castle, the Beacon school year will begin in ten days rather than its usual schedule."

The crown prince sighed and allowed himself one crass word, "Damnit."

* * *

 **Finally, a chapter that is of reasonable length!**

 **So, we saw the beginning of the vassalization of Menagerie, and the aftermath of the attack on Herbst!**

 **Next time will mark the beginning of the show, and very soon we'll see initiation.**

 **So! _PLEASE REVIEW GOD DAMMIT_ , with questions, statements, complaints, or compliments, and I'll try to address them with a Review Reply at the end of the chapter, or I'll DM you.**

 _ **Next chapter,**_ **a few days to a week, maybe a little longer depending on my motivation.**


	14. Chapter Twelve

**Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. I had to put SOMETHING out.**

* * *

Richard sat on a very expensive sofa in the main parlor room of the castle, Ruby on his right with Yang to his left, and Jaune sitting in his own chair just across from them. They all had differing looks on their faces, Yang looked a little miffed. Jaune, having finally got the rest he so needed, looked excited. Ruby was laying on her side contently with her head lying on one of Richard's thighs and her ears being attended to. Richard himself looked like he was contemplating something, lightly pulling on one of the curled edges of his budding 'Doc Holliday' Van Dyke mustache while he lightly scratched Ruby's ears, of course, it looked a little wimpy now, but it would be a mustache worthy of being worn by royalty in a few months, but that's another topic.

The looks on their faces were synonymous with their reactions to being told that their previously extensive grace period had been reduced to a measly ten days.

After a few moments of the four, well, three really, because Ruby was momentarily distracted, contemplating the news, Jaune spoke up.

"I for one think that this news is excellent, the sooner we get to Beacon, the sooner we can begin to learn there."

Yang's slightly upset face faded, "That's true, I admit that I was a little angry that we only have a little more than a week to prepare now, but I guess the sooner the better," she smiled lightly, "The only thing I'm a little confused about right now, is why Ruby isn't bouncing off the walls?"

Richard replied, "Ah, well, that's because I'm currently subduing her, at least until we know how to stop her from destroying the castle in excitement," he nodded down to her and the quiet happy whining and 'scritch scratch' of his fingers on her ears and the spot just behind them on top of her head, and the wide smile on her face and closed eyes that appeared as a result. Jaune chuckled a little while Yang 'awwed.

"But, we should probably let her 'bounce off the walls' now instead of later," with that said, Richard took his hands off of Ruby's ears. She let out such a pitiful and begging whine afterward that Richard nearly went back to giving her ears attention. But, with a strained look on his face, he managed to resist.

Ruby's eyes fluttered open as she sat up next to Richard and stretched. "Ah, that was nice."

She looked at the smiles on everyone else's face in confusion. "What's going on? Why are you all smiling like that?"

Yang spoke up, "Well Rubes, we have just been sent a wire that told us that we are gonna go to Beacon Academy in ten days."

Ruby's eyes lit up like stars, "Really?! _Yes!_ " she yelled out in excitement. "OhmygoshRichiewehavesomuchtoprepareforIneedmoreammoforCrescentRoseandIneedtobuyafewweaponmagazinesandwehavetomakesurewehavealltheclotheswewanttowearandweneedtoaskHeadmasterOzpinifwecanuseourownclothesasuniformsiftheyrecloseenoughtothenormaluniformsand-nggh"

"Woah there Ruby!" Richard interrupted her incomprehensible rant by quickly wrapping an arm around her and placing the other on her head. Meanwhile, Yang and Jaune looked like their brains were going to melt from their attempts at understanding what Ruby said. "We still have time, it shouldn't take long to prepare for the school year, we just won't have too much free time in the process."

"Mmmhmm, okay," Ruby muttered out distractedly, of course, the thing distracting her was the feeling of Richard's hand on her head.

"Well!" Richard started, as he turned away from Ruby so he wouldn't see her pouting face, "I believe that we should start the preparation immediately. Ruby will go pick up necessary munitions at a local dust shop, and I will call Professor Ozpin at Beacon and make sure we can use our normal clothes instead of the school uniforms if we so wish."

Yang spoke up after recovering from her brain melt, "What about me and Jaune?"

"It's Jaune and I, Yang." the coal magnate's son quipped. All he received in reply was an eye roll.

"Why can't we just have servants do all that anyway?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Because we must get used to living without them, most of our time for the next four years will be spent at Beacon after all, and we cannot bring our servants with us."

"Fiiine. Anyway, you guys can do whatever you like to prepare." Ruby replied, with the latter half of her statement directed and Yang and Jaune.

"Then I'm going to go practice with Crocea Mors," Jaune said as he got up.

"And I'm gonna go check out the city a little more, ya know, get familiar with our surroundings." Yang piped up as she mimicked Jaune's actions.

"Alright, guys! Have fun!" Ruby cheered happily as she walked out of the room.

Richard gazed at her fondly as she left, before turning to his friends, "Well, you all have fun." He got up to go to the phone on the wall in the next room. "Remember to stay safe Yang!"

Yang let out a laugh at his statement.

* * *

Days later, Richard was sitting on his bed with Ruby's head in his lap as he ran his hands through her hair.

"So you beat up a criminal huh?" Richard asked her.

"Well, kinda. We didn't really have a one on one, I knocked out his goons though. They're in jail now." Ruby replied with a blush due to his hands on her head and lupine ears.

Her fiance smiled, "I'm very proud of you Ruby, I suppose it's a good thing you forgot to get those weapon magazines the first time you went there eh?"

Ruby giggled, "I guess so. Are you ready for the big day tomorrow?"

Richard gently pulled on her soft ears as he replied, "Of course! I cannot wait to see how Huntsmen from other kingdoms perform in combat and in academics."

Another giggle, "That's so boring! I wanna see all the weapons everybody will have! Killing Grimm is a great plus too!"

Richard laughed, "That's great enthusiasm you have Little Rose, let's hope it translates well into action eh?"

Ruby pouted and puffed her cheeks at him, "Of course it will!" She poked his chest, "Just you wait!"

Another laugh, "Alright Little Rose, I get the message."

A short, but comfortable silence ensued before Richard broke it, "By the way, tomorrow I am going to go to the airfield for a few minutes before we leave. If you don't mind, you can go on without me, I'll meet you there."

"Alright." Ruby's response came with a puzzled look.

* * *

 **I'm finally coming into a hell of a lot of free time. So expect longer, more frequent chapters, and maybe even a Resident Evil/RWBY crossover!**


	15. Chapter Thirteen

**Gruß Genossen.**

* * *

When Ruby woke up in Richie's bed, she was disappointed to see that he wasn't there, but she took pleasure in finding that the ink on the note he left her was still moist.

 _My Dearest Rose,_

 _I'm afraid that I had to leave a little earlier than I expected and I just couldn't wake you up, you look much too precious when you're sleeping._

 _Make sure you have everything before you leave for Beacon, I don't think we will be able to leave to pick anything up until after initiation._

 _I love you more than anything in the world, and the only reason I left you alone was that I will see you again soon_

 _-Your loving fiancé, Richie_

Ruby's ears curled in an adorable way that would have made Richie go crazy.

"Oh, that's so sweet." She cooed to herself, "I'd better get ready to go though."

She pulled the bell cord to ring for a few maids and began to prepare herself for them to dress her. She had bought a pair of high heels made specifically for combat that she was dying to try!

Meanwhile, Yang wasn't used to having much more than the maid that helped clean her house, so the comparatively large amount of maids -three to be exact- slightly startled her when the arrived in her room when she woke up. Jaune, on the other hand, was not surprised, as he had many servants employed by his family.

Eventually, after they were all finished dressing, it was finally time to leave for Beacon. Their bags had been packed for them, with their private items in smaller bags they had packed themselves.

"You know Yang, I find myself quite relieved to find that you are accompanying us to Beacon" Jaune smiled, "I was worried that without your presence, our time there wouldn't nearly have the excitement it will now."

Yang laughed, "Oh stop it Jauney, I may be the life of the party, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been that bad if I wasn't coming with you guys" she shrugged with a smirk, "besides, there was no way I _wasn't_ coming to Beacon with you guys!" She ended with a laugh.

Ruby's tail swung back and forth at the enthusiasm of her cousin, Yang was a very fun person to be around, up to a point anyway.

"Hey, Rubes?"

She looked up, "Yes Jaune?

Jaune gestured to her tail, "You might want to tie that up soon, we don't want anyone accidentally stepping on it or something when we're on the bullhead."

Ruby blushed, "Oh right, definitely don't want that." She winced at the thought, Jaune had accidentally stepped on her tail when they were children. It hadn't been something she'd call a 'painless experience' by any means whatsoever. He'd, of course, apologized profusely to her after he realized his mistake.

The kronprinzessin-to-be quickly wrapped her tail around her waist and secured it underneath her skirt, so it couldn't be yanked, or even seen, by a random passerby. Her hood could easily be put up to prevent any racists from seeing her lupine ears as well.

She supposed they may have been going a little overboard to prevent harassment, but she'd never been anywhere but Patch whenever she left Prussia, and they didn't truly know how racists would react to a normal Faunus. Let alone a Prussian one. Chances would not be taken when it came to royalty.

Of course, due to this, once they had gotten on board the bullhead Ruby had put her hood on in order to stop any eyes from seeing her precious ears.

One thing that wasn't surprising however, was the fact that Jaune was leaning against a wall and breathing deeply in order to control his nausea.

It seemed that his motion sickness was included in bullheads instead of just dirigibles.

Ruby giggled a little at the young man's pained grimace. It was a rare sight to see Jaune so out of sorts during an important event, as he was usually composed in front of others. Especially if his sisters were around.

"You alright there Vomit Boy?" Yang asked boisterously, a large smile showed plenty of her pristine teeth.

He glared at her, "Yang, I haven't even been sick yet, calm down."

Yang's eyes lit up even more than they already were, "Ha! So you admit that you're going to be sick!"

"Keep distracting me and I'll make sure it gets on your shoes."

Ruby laughed at the banter between her cousin and close friend, but it was interrupted by a peculiar buzzing sound.

The phrase, "What's that?" and variants of it began to echo throughout the crowd, and many were beginning to stare out of the windows of the bullhead. This obviously caught Ruby's attention, and she quickly used her semblance to get to the windows before they could become so crowded she wouldn't see whatever was out there.

When she looked out, she was given the gift of seeing about one-hundred single-seat fighter planes. Each one had the Iron Cross on each side of the fuselage and two on each side of the wings.

She smiled and gently fondled her own Iron Cross, it was a necklace with a red and white striped black band and was given to her by Richie for her fifteenth birthday and had a small inscription in the middle.

There were a few jeers in the crowd at the sight of the fighters, but most were simply gawking at the sight.

Many pilots knew of their audience and we're doing various amazing tricks that no other nation's aircraft could do, Prussians had the lightest and most agile planes of all the kingdoms. Whether they were fighters or bombers.

But the fighter that caught her eye was a blood-red triplane, a Fokker Dr.I to be exact, with its Iron Cross next to a beautiful crown. It was Richie's personal fighter, and the crown on the side was a heavily modified version of the German State Crown.

"Oh wow", someone whispered loudly next to her said in wonder. She looked to her left to see the awed person.

It was a pale skinned girl with turquoise eyes and orange hair, she was a little taller than Ruby, and was dressed in a pink skirt slightly shorter than her own. What really caught Ruby's eye, however, was that the girl seemed to have some sort of grenade launcher on her back.

Before she could ask the girl about her weapon though, Beacon came fully into view after being obscured by the cliff face and the mountain adjoining it.

The beautiful squadron of planes split off from Richie to presumably return to their home airbase, and the Kronprinz began to fly around and do stunts around the massive bullhead that the future Beacon students were on. He flew within six feet of the very window Ruby and the orange-haired girl were looking out of.

"So much for remaining undetected," Ruby mumbled.

He continued to wondrous stunts and tricks in the plane in order to perform to the audience he knew he had occupying the bullhead.

The people that had jeered before began to quiet down as a group but instead began to rant individually about the Kingdom of Prussia to anyone within earshot.

She frowned at their words. She was quite patriotic after all, it came with being royalty.

Richie continued to buzz around and perform tricks even as the bullhead landed, though said had slowed down and reduced in extravagance quite a bit by then.

After she and Ruby had gotten off of the bullhead, Yang squeezed Ruby one more time, "Alright Rubes! I'mgonnagoseemyfriendsbye!" She said very quickly before essentially jumping into a crowd of people Ruby assumed were said 'friends'.

Blinking rapidly in an attempt to clear mental cobwebs, she put her hood up and began to walk towards where she assumed the entrance to Beacon was.

However, as she did so, Richie had decided to do a particular peculiar stunt involving a rose, and dropping said rose out of the plane while flying ridiculously low.

Due to this, Ruby was startled by the sudden presence of a thornless rose flying into her face, having been dropped by a deceptively quiet triplane. Her reaction was naturally to grab at the object and jump back, which subsequently caused her to trip backward over somebody's luggage.

"What are you doing?!" someone screeched next to her ear, which caused said ear to ring due to its enhanced sense. She looked up to see the person who had the offending voice as she got up.

The girl in front of her was slightly taller than her and seemed to be partial to the color white, considering everything from her shoes to her hair was white or opal. Something else Ruby noticed was the furious look on the girl's face.

"You absolute dolt! Do you know what could have happened?!" Ruby winced at the volume.

"My apologies miss, I didn't see your luggage there, let me help pick them up."

"NO! Don't touch them you stupid klutz!"

Now _that_ angered Ruby.

She subtly bared her fangs at the girl.

"Listen you little stuck up dullard! I was having an absolutely _wonderful_ morning before I tripped over your luggage, but I wasn't going to be petty about you leaving it in the middle of the walkway like some plebeian moron! But then you refused to accept my apology and began to treat me like trash!?" Ruby _very_ rarely became angry, but this girl had pressed all of the wrong buttons and she was going to pay for it.

"God forbid something like a little kitten should stumble on your path! You would probably treat it as little more than _street trash!_ "

The girl's face became one of intense shock for a few moments before she responded. "How dare you!? Do you even know who I am!? Or my status!?"

That was the last nail in the coffin, Ruby's pupils became pinpricks and her lips pulled back to bare her razor-sharp fangs better as her lupine instincts began to overrule her usual control herself.

"Compared to me?! A nobody twenty thousand kilometers below _Hell itself_!" was the last coherent thought she could vocalize, though she barely managed to stop herself from growling.

However, the introduction of a third party managed to stop Ruby from, quite literally, attempting to tear the girl's throat out with her teeth.

"She's Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Ruby turned quickly to the voice her Iron Cross jingled slightly, her mouth closed and pupils dilated as she cemented control over her instincts.

The voice belonged to a girl with amber eyes, long black hair, and a bow on the top of her head.

"Finally some recognition!" The girl in white, now named Weiss Schnee, spoke.

But the girl with the bow wasn't finished. "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners."

"Wha- How dare- The nerve of... Ugh!" With that highly intelligent rebuttal, Weiss stormed off.

Ruby sighed and turned to the girl in black. "Hey, thanks for- huh?"

However, said girl in black had apparently decided to leave, as Ruby was greeted by her retreating form.

Ruby sighed again and looked down a little dejected. Luckily, a familiar friend came to the rescue.

"Are you alright Ruby?" came the voice of Jaune.

She looked up to see him, he was dressed in some light armor that was painted white, some blue jeans, and what looked like a hoodie?

"Oh hey, Jaune. You didn't see that did you?" she asked a little nervously.

Her question was answered when he laughed.

"I gotta say, seeing a lady of your status get so upset at someone was one of the funniest things I've seen in quite a while."

Ruby pouted, "Shut up Vomit boy!"

Jaune gaped, "Hey! You know how common motion sickness is in my family!"

Luckily for them, the impending battle of wits was interrupted by Richard's triplane gliding very slowly about five feet above the ground nearby with the engine off. They both looked over to see the plane abruptly pull up, eliminating all remaining forward momentum and causing it to drop the last few feet straight down.

"Show off," Jaune mumbled as Richard exited the plane.

He took off his flying cap and jacket and put them back in the plane before retrieving his pickelhaube from the flying machine.

"Hello!" He said cheerfully as he approached them, "Did I miss anything interesting?"

Jaune spoke up before Ruby could, "I'm afraid so friend, it seems that your wife-to-be has made an enemy within five minutes of landing."

Ruby winced a little when Richard looked at her, "I didn't intend to antagonize her! She was just so rude, and I couldn't control myself!"

Richard chuckled and patted her head through her hood, "It's alright Ruby, we all make mistakes." He smiled at her, "Besides, with how friendly you are, I'm sure she'll forgive you eventually."

Jaune seemed to remember something, "Oh that's right! I forgot to tell you two, but we'll be sleeping in the ballroom tonight." He scratched the back of his head, "I'm not sure why though."

"Oh, wonderful! It'll be like a big sleepover!" Ruby exclaimed.

Richard laughed a little, "Well, let's get going then alright?"

The auditorium was quite large, enough to hold all of the first-year students entering the school, and a decent amount of reporters that wished to film the event for morale purposes.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang called from a short distance away, she had commandeered three seats beside her own for her friends and cousin to sit at.

Jaune looked to his friends, "You two go ahead, I'm going to do a quick check on the luggage," he said pointing to the baggage cart with their items on it about twenty feet away.

Ruby replied quickly, "OkayJauneIgottagotalkwithYangbye!" before speeding off to her cousin.

Both Richard and Jaune blinked, "Alright Jaune, I'll see you in a few minutes." Richard waved as he walked away and Jaune waved back.

When Jaune arrived at the baggage cart, he grabbed one of his own pieces of luggage first, it was a violin case.

Before he could open it to check it's condition, another person who had decided to check their luggage called out, "Look out!" and he felt a brief pressure on his foot as the impact of a suitcase impacting it was cushioned by his Aura and boot. He heard an "I'm sorry" as he looked down. Jaune quickly put his violin case back and picked the suitcase up.

"Oh don't worry about it, my boot is insulated and my Aura protected me otherwise." He said as he handed the case to a beautiful redheaded woman with sparkling green eyes.

She blushed and smiled, "Sorry, I suppose I should look out better."

He smiled back at her, "It's of no consequence. My name is Jaune, may I inquire yours?"

She blushed a little harder and held out her hand, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

He took her outstretched hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles, causing the red color of her face to increase in intensity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Nikos, but I'm afraid that I must go sit down. The Headmaster is about to start his speech." Jaune said as he drew away from her hand.

The redhead smiled widely at him, "Oh please, call me Pyrrha, goodbye."

He smiled back, " _Auf wiedersehen_ ," he called as he walked away.

'What a lovely young woman," he thought to himself.

As he approached he saw Weiss Schnee ranting to an apologetic Richard and Ruby before pointing to him and saying, "...and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there!"

He blinked at the girl's words, he wasn't scraggly, was he? He worked out! Maybe not at much as Richard, bit still!

Richard scoffed. "Miss Schnee, I understand that you are upset at Ruby, but it wasn't malicious, and your rudeness toward her and Jaune is completely inappropriate." He declared after Jaune walked up next to them.

Yang spoke up before Weiss could retort, "Guys! Shut up, the Headmaster is coming onstage."

Sure enough, both Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch had walked up onstage.

He cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." He stopped for a split-second as the students whispered among themselves. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

When he was finished, he stepped down and Professor Goodwitch took his place, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Yang spoke up again, "Huh" she looked towards her friends and Weiss, "He seemed kind of distracted."

"Yeah," Ruby replied, "I would think he would be better concentrated."

Richard looked to her, "He likely has quite a bit on his mind, I'm sure his job is quite stressful."

"Well, let's get going to the ballroom; we still have to set up our tents."

The two tents they had set up were for Richard and Ruby, then Yang and Jaune. They had brought them for privacy reasons. Royalty deserved only the best after all.

Ruby and Yang were sitting inside their tent, Yang was on her scroll, and Ruby was writing in a notebook.

"Watcha writing Rubes?" Yang asked her curiously.

"A letter to our friends back in the _vaterland_. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

"Aw, that's so cuuuute!"

Yang's gushing was cut off by Ruby throwing a pillow at her face.

" _Stille_! I wasn't able to bring any friends besides Jaune with me to school, unlike yourself. It's strange not knowing anyone."

Yang waved her hand dismissively, "Don't sweat it Rubes, your super nice! Just be yourself and you'll have friends crawling all over you."

"I don't think Richie would want anyone but himself crawling all over me…" Ruby mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry about it!"

Suddenly, as if its only purpose was to save Ruby from embarrassment, piano music began to play outside of the tent.

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Who's playing the piano?"

Ruby, however, knew exactly who it was.

"Oooh! I've got to get my cello!" She exclaimed as she quickly ran out to where they put their luggage.

Yang blinked, "Wuh? Hey Ruby! Wait!" The confused Yang took off after her cousin.

By the time she caught up to her, Ruby had started coming back with a large cello case.

"You know how to play the cello?" Yang asked confused.

Ruby nodded eagerly, her face split by a large smile, "Bass too! Richie taught me how!" She bolted off again to the corner of the room where said Richie was warming up on the Grand Piano that laid in the corner.

'When did that get there?' Yang thought curiously.

Once she got next to Richie, Ruby began to pluck at the strings of her cello in a steady beat that became 'energetic' every few beats, and Richie began to play a song and, surprisingly, sing.

 _Hot August night_

 _And the leaves hanging down_

 _And the grass on the ground smelling sweet_

They played a little more energetically for a few seconds, and people began to look over to them.

 _Move up the road_

 _To the outside of town_

 _And the sound of that good gospel beat_

They were energetic again, and more people began to look over.

 _Sits a ragged tent_

The sang began to increase in intensity

 _Where there ain't no trees_

 _And that gospel group_

 _Telling you and me_

Richie began to sing quite loudly

 _It's love, Brother Love say_

 _Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show_

 _Pack up the babies_

 _And grab the old ladies_

 _And everyone goes_

 _'Cause everyone knows_

 _Brother Love's show_

The music calmed down to its original intensity, and people began to gather around the two music players.

 _Room gets suddenly still_

 _And when you'd almost bet_

 _You could hear yourself sweat, he walks in_

 _Eyes black as coal_

 _And when he lifts his face_

 _Every ear in the place is on him_

The intensity began to build once again.

 _Starting soft and slow_

 _Like a small earthquake_

 _And when he lets go_

The intensity peaks and people started dancing to the music. Yang herself was dancing especially energetically to it, and she failed to notice a certain black-haired amber-eyed girl begin to walk over to the couple playing the music. She had an excited look in her eyes.

 _Half the valley shakes_

 _It's love, Brother Love say_

 _Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show_

 _Pack up the babies_

 _And grab the old ladies_

 _And everyone goes_

 _'Cause everyone knows_

 _'Bout Brother Love's show_

The music calms again, and Ruby began to sing backup vocals.

 _Hallelujah, brothers_

 _Halle-hallelujah_

 _I said brothers_

 _(Hallelujah) Now you got yourself two good hands_

 _(Halle-hallelujah) And when your brother is troubled,_

 _You gotta reach out your one hand for him_

 _(Hallelujah) 'Cause that's what it's there for_

The viewers began to get enraptured by the song, some tapped feet while others clapped or nodded heads.

 _(Halle-hallelujah) And when your heart is troubled,_

 _You gotta reach out your other hand_

 _(Hallelujah) Reach it out to the man up there_

 _(Halle-hallelujah) 'Cause that's what he's there for_

 _Take my hand in yours_

 _Walk with me this day_

 _In my heart I know_

 _I will never stray_

 _Halle, halle, halle, halle, halle, halle, halle, halle_

 _Love, Brother Love say_

 _Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show_

 _Pack up the babies_

 _And grab the old ladies_

 _And everyone goes_

 _I say love, Brother Love say_

 _Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show_

 _(Halle, halle)_

At this point people began to sing along for the last few lines.

 _Pack up the babies_

 _And grab the old ladies_

 _And everyone goes_

 _Love, Brother Love say_

 _Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show_

Many of the soon-to-be students clapped at the performance of the popular Prussian rock song. Ruby looked up to see a certain orange-haired girl whoop and shake a young man that appeared to be from Mistral judging from his clothes and physical appearance.

These things Richie and Ruby expected, what wasn't expected was the amber-eyed girl that helped Ruby with Weiss appearing and wrapping herself around Richie from behind and rubbing her cheek into his back.

" _Meister_..."

* * *

 **Sorry, it took so long, but I wasn't satisfied with this chapter for the longest time, but at least it's finally of reasonable length.**

 **Remember to review! Really, it gives me insight into what I should do and your reactions!**

 **And thanks to _joeyginise_ for all the help with ideas!**


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